It wasn’t there long, but it stood its ideological ground long enough to be noticed and draw a few quizzical stares. Then it was gone. It was a Second Amendment-celebrating political yard sign on South Oregon Avenue in South Tampa–not to be confused with unincorporated Hillsborough County. It was for local businessman and Tampa Port Authority Chairman Hoe Brown, who’s running for Hillsborough County Republican State Committeeman.
(The committeeman post is a non-governmental, unpaid position. Every Florida county is entitled to two elected members who serve on their party’s Democratic and Republican committees, respectively. Members are elected by primary voters every four years. Given ticket priorities in descending order, you don’t see a lot of committeemen references during the signage season.)
And as with any yard sign, there’s not much room for anything more than a name, an office and maybe a buzz word or two. In Brown’s case, just enough room for: “Pro Gun.” Honest. Obvious who was being targeted, so to speak, even for a bottom-of-the-ticket, committeeman’s position. Even for a couple of days. Even in a non-NRA nest.