Omaha couple beginning political conversations with a blue dot

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) - Labor Day is usually considered the start of the election season, when people really start paying attention to what’s going on politically.

Even though we’ve been bombarded with political views and ads for what seems like years.

There is a group of people in Omaha’s Dundee neighborhood who are starting political conversations without saying a word.

There are no written words. Just a white sign with a blue dot.

Jason Brown and his wife, Ruth Huebner, created the sign — they just wanted to do something.

“Put the sign in the yard, neighbors started saying ‘What’s that about?’, We ordered ten, gave ten to some neighbor’s friends, and they started telling us we’re getting tons of interest,” Brown said.

People wanted the signs in their yards.

Jason and Ruth got the neighbors together to produce more blue dot signs. That one sign became dozens, and blue dots soon lined the neighborhood. People started to talk.

“Well, they just ask, ‘What’s it mean?’, you know?” Neighbor Douglas Carter said. “’What’s a blue dot mean?’, so we just tell them. We get good reactions, we get bad reactions.”

“Some people don’t know what it is, but then they immediately realize if they’re aware of politics and the electoral college, and how things work in this country,” Neighbor Tim Conn said. “’Oh, I get it!’ and it’s just because that awareness and that conversation, people will talk about this, what it is, realize the importance.”

Nebraska has five electoral votes. Two statewide, and then one vote for each of the state’s three congressional districts. Nebraska’s 2nd District has been labeled the “blue dot.”

In 2020, one of Nebraska’s electoral votes went to Joe Biden, later known as the “blue dot” as it represented a single Democratic Electoral College vote in a sea of Republican red. It was only the second time in the history of presidential elections in Nebraska that the state split its electoral votes: It had also happened in 2008, with one vote going to Barack Obama.

“And now, they’re all through the city so far,” Neighbor Jenny Ranne said. “I’ve noticed they’ve been popping up on our block even more.”

Ranne and her dog Dottie have a blue dot in their yard. She says it’s important.

“Because we need to have our voice heard in the metro area,” Ranne said.

That dot is making noise as far away as the Florence and Minne Lusa neighborhoods.

Yes, there are others that start political conversations with more than a blue dot. There’s been talk by lawmakers to turn the blue dot into a winner-take-all deal,

“It was concerning,” someone said. “I think it’s a very amazing, unique feature that we get to have in Nebraska, and I hope whether you’re red, blue, or in the middle, or independent, that it’s inspiring.”

Right now, we’re hearing this year’s presidential race could be very tight, and that little blue dot could make a big difference in the race.

“Not a big difference, but we could be the difference,” Brown said. ”Some of the analysts have very legitimately and logically laid out a scenario where it could end up a tie, and literally that one blue dot vote here could change the course of history.”

Jason and Ruth tell 6 News the blue dots are still in demand, and they have 700 more signs on order.

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