Joe Schlichenmeyer displays the yard sign he developed for fed-up voters.
Joe Schlichenmeyer got to the point a couple of months ago when he was completely disgusted with political corruption and incompetence in Washington. “Every week you’d get to the point where you’d think it can’t get any worse–and then it would!” he says. “I just felt like I’d had enough.” Joe, who is the Outreach and Inclusion Officer for the Winona County DFL, had a feeling that people like him were ready to publicly declare their sentiments about how things were going. “I talked with so many people I know and they were in the same place,” he said, “we needed something we could rally around.” But it was early in the political season. The county DFL hadn’t endorsed any candidates yet. He had a sudden vision of a sign that just read “Had Enough?”–a simple message that he thought would resonate. “It was something we could put out there,” Joe said. “It wouldn’t have a candidate’s name, just an idea on it: ‘Had enough? Vote ‘em out!’”
But Joe is not a designer, so he approached fellow DFLer Patrick Lichty, who is on the WCDFL Communication and Education Committee. Patrick teaches Creative and Digital Media at WSU, so he has plenty of design skills. He immediately grasped what Joe was going for. “‘The slogan ‘Had Enough’ has the same cadence as the slogan in the “Got Milk’” campaign,” he said. “I went and researched the original campaign from the 90s and applied that design to Joe’s idea.” Patrick even used the same type font as in the original ads, judging that this would help people identify with the campaign emotionally.
Joe debuted the signs at the No Kings rally on March 28th. He offered them at the DFL table for a nominal donation of eight dollars. “People liked them!” he said. “They’d look at the sign and say, ‘Yeah! I’ve had enough.’ “
“We’ve got over 50 signs out so far. More and more of them are popping up in Winona and in St. Charles,” Joe says. “I’ve seen a lot of political independents and even some Republicans put them up.” Joe adds, “I’m working on bumper stickers!”
The signs are available at the County DFL office in the Kensington Building at 157 W. 3rd St, Suite J. (check the DFL website for office hours or to contact the county DFL). Signs will also be available at the DFL table near the levee steps at the north end of the Winona Farmers Market on Saturdays.
If you want to reserve a sign online, click on the link below. You will still have to collect the sign in person:
Winona County Democratic Farmer Labor Party 