Signs of Discord Emerge Over Campaign Materials

In Botetourt, the recent argument that began with a desire to protect a picturesque part of the state quickly erupted into a partisan dispute and then a larger question about the balance between a person's constitutional rights and a government's ability to makes rules for the benefit of the entire community.

"If we don't have some semblance of order, we'd just have a libertarian society where anything goes," said Jim Crosby, a longtime resident and former chairman of the Botetourt Republican Party.

Botetourt is home to nearly 33,000 people, a mix of retirees, cattle farmers and professionals, some of whom commute to nearby Roanoke. With 22,000 registered voters and turnouts as high as 60 percent on Election Day, the county has a politically active population, roughly 60 percent Republican and 40 percent Democrat.

Since the 1970s, the county has had a law restricting temporary signs as part of an effort to maintain the beauty of the sprawling county situated between the Blue Ridge and Allegheny mountains. In 2002, officials added language to restrict signs to 60 days before an election and 15 days after an election.

Botetourt officials say they have never enforced the sign ordinance because they have never had to. Residents, they say, know the law.

Last year, Sam Rasoul, a 26-year-old businessman seeking the Democratic nomination for the seat held by Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), began asking residents whether they would display his signs outside their homes or businesses or on their farms or plots of undeveloped land.

"It is beautiful, hard to argue with that," Rasoul said, "but we're talking about a handful of signs."