SNOQUALMIE VALLEY – One of the most basic ways to support a candidate is to post a sign. No debates. No letters to the editor. Just a little time and maybe a little sweat equity.

For Andy and Eileen Carrel, it was the least they could do. Neither had been very politically outspoken in the past, but this year they’d had enough. They are not big fans of President Bush and felt they needed to post a sign of support for John Kerry.

“It [the present administration] has been spiraling out of control in all different directions,” Andy said.

Eileen called a Democratic Party campaign office in Issaquah and got a large Kerry/Edwards sign to put up on the property of their Fall City home. The Carrels don’t believe they can change any minds with the sign, but thought this election year warranted more than just a passive approach to a process the two had thought of before as just choosing the lesser of two evils.

“It was obvious we had to do something,” Eileen said.

While posting a sign may be a simple way to show support, it also appears to be one of the most contentious. In the last weeks leading up to Election Day, campaign signs have become targets for vandalism or theft. Both political sides have cried foul over the opposing party infringing on their right to free speech and cheapening the tone of debate in an already volatile election.

It is also a slap in the face of a lot of work. Pat Young and Leslie Johnson both took a day, in the rain, to post two large Bush/Cheney signs, one on Bendigo Boulevard and another off North Bend Way near the forest service building. Within 24 hours, both signs had been vandalized and knocked off their supports. The women put them up again, only to have the one on Bendigo knocked down again and the one on North Bend Way stolen. The sign on Bendigo Boulevard was also vandalized again with spray paint after being posted a third time.

The Washington State Republican Party paid for the signs, but the act of vandalism was more hurtful than anything. The women had heard about what had happened to signs in other communities on the Eastside, but the vandalism to their signs was still a shock. When they were putting up the signs, Johnson and Young got a lot of waves from passing drivers. They hate to think someone they knew saw them putting up a sign and then came back later to vandalize it.

“People have known us for years,” Johnson said. “I never thought that would happen here.”

Joan Crecca, a Republican supporter who helped Young and Johnson get the signs, brushed aside any notion that it was children up to no good. While smaller signs may be knocked over by wind or taken along as a souvenir, the signs her friends put up took two people to lift and post. They are heavy and were screwed in with large bolts. Vandalism is one thing, but actually stealing a sign in the dead of night on a major road takes determination and planning that Crecca doubts any wayward child would be willing to muster.

“The hatred is just awful,” Crecca said.

The Carrels said their sign has not been vandalized, but they took precautions to keep it safe. Before they installed it they were given pointers on how to secure it from all elements, including vandals. The sign was fastened high on two posts behind a grove of blackberry bushes in plain view of State Route 202.

The women who posted the Bush/Cheney sign said they met with a deputy from the King County Sheriff’s Office, but have no leads as to who damaged their signs. Snoqualmie Police Chief Jim Schaffer said sign vandalism is a gross misdemeanor, punishable by up to a $1,000 fine and even jail time.

Backers for both the campaigns said signs are not only a way to show support for candidates, but also a way to show others there are those in the Valley who feel the same way they do. Both sides feel they are the minority in the area, and that a sign in someone’s yard or a sticker on a car can remind people they are not alone.

“This is a sign of support to those who would never open their mouths in public [regarding the election],” Johnson said.

The Carrels said Republican signs line the highway by Fall City and they wanted others to know there are some active Democrats in the Valley.

Eileen had never been a fan of signs and actually thought they were a little ugly, but this election season showed her there was little room for those who want to do nothing.

It’s a sign of the times.

Ben Cape can be reached at (425) 888-2311 or by e-mail at ben.cape@valleyrecord.com.