Bob McCarty Writes

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The “Yes, We Can” message made familiar to so many via President Barack Obama’s presidential campaign is now popping up alongside the image of the 44th president on 15 LED billboards across the state of Wisconsin.  Who’s to blame?  The answer is Clear Channel Outdoor President Paul Sara, according to a report broadcast on Milwaukee television station WISN’s yesterday.

Although the billboard company executive is quoted in the print version of the report as saying that the effort is inspirational rather than political, I suspect that three other factors — supported by the fact that Federal Election Commission records show Sara made no contributions to the Obama presidential campaign — might be in play:

• Sara knew the message would appeal to the majority of people in Wisconsin, a state that, according to a USA TODAY report published Nov. 5, hasn’t elected a Republican president in 24 years;
  

• Sara’s company has space that is going unused — or, in industry vernacular, is “lapsed” — on expensive billboards, and he wanted to put something up so people won’t think his billboard business is lagging; and
  

• Sara is hoping that a wealthy Republican businessman in the state will be so upset by the fact that people across the state are seeing the “Yes, We Can” message that he will rent those boards for an extended period of time.
  

[Editor's Note to "Cheeseheads": Please let this blogger know if/when you see these boards have been replaced by authentic commercial message.  Thanks in advance!]