Day Twenty-four, April 18

It's superficial. It's silly. It's actually kind-of stupid, but I do it, too: I get excited when I see an 'Obama '08' sticker on the back of somebody's car. Or a placard on their lawn, or a copy of The Audacity of Hope on their bookshelf. That's all it takes to feel like my best friend lives down the street, or is waiting at the same red light as me. And it happens a lot in Colorado. Around Denver, you'll spot the occasional Hillary bumper sticker, and John McCain's name is virtually nowhere to be seen, but it seems like Obama supporters are coming out of the freaking walls. That's what Libby Copeland's article from Sunday's Washington Post is all about: the signifier of Obama pride, the 'O' sticker. The entertaining feature covers not only the pride one feels in spotting another Obamaniac on the street, but the extra sense of esteem that one gets in sporting an especially worn sticker or button sporting the candidate's name. It's the pride that only comes with the wear and tear of being an active supporter out on the campaign trail, Copeland explains. Howard Park, a Obama supporter from Washington, D.C. explains it thusly: "It kind of shows we were here in the beginning," not like "the new, mint-condition sticker people." Like many successful presidential runs before him, the omnipresence of Obama's name on buttons, banners, signs, and--of course--stickers is all the required proof of his popularity, and the grassroots effort that's helped put him where he is today.