But campaign placards that once boasted of a candidate's longevity and position in the party now omit any mention of membership.

In a society where women customarily cover themselves from head to toe, several women have boldly displayed their faces on campaign placards.

"It's a good thing there won't be a floor fight," says Robert Leone, a Dukakis worker, juggling 15 extra wide campaign placards.

One, a 1932 campaign placard, features two pictures with the phrase: "Roosevelt & Garner - End Prohibition."

For voters on either end of the demographic bell curve, the musical slogan on Barry Melton's letterhead and campaign placards does not make much sense.

At the perennial garment center rally in Manhattan, a traditional Jewish and later Hispanic stronghold, most of the campaign placards were in Chinese.

That night, as local Republicans gathered at the Town Hall in Newtown, a half-dozen Maloney supporters carrying campaign placards posted themselves outside.

- as his campaign placards call him - would not be wasted, Mr. Alexander said, "A lot of things change in the last three weeks in this state."

Only about 100 people came to a 283-seat hall at Lehigh University for the event, leaving plenty of empty chairs for party loyalists to place their campaign placards.

Mr. Brett logged 200 house parties and had 5,000 blue campaign placards posted on lawns, cars, and store windows all over town.