Whew, we made it.

Yes, today is election day and we will finally be done with all those boring election commercials.

I'm tire of the 'mud slinging'.

I'm tired of the 'measures'.

I'm tired of the phone calls.

I'm tired of the brochures in my mail box.

We have got to come up with a less expensive, much, much, much shorter way to run elections.  For the last month I have been 'muting' said commercials, or purposely choosing to watch cable channels that do not have said commercials.

I heard a little girl on television being interviewed about what she had learned in school about the elections and the candidates.  She said (at least 3 times) she learned 'they lie'.  I thought it was pretty irresponsible that a teacher would teach that to his/her students.  Frankly, I don't want to believe any teacher would use those words to describe candidates.  I switched channels without watching the rest of that interview.

Here's what I think.  First, I believe any candidate starting out running for office has the very best intentions, and that they believe they can truly change a system that has become jaded over the last two hundred years.  I admire their ambition, wanting to do the right thing by their constituents.  They make promises they can't possibly keep simply because of the way the system works.  They are not 'lying', they truly believe they can single handed do what they promised.  Solution, don't make promises!  Simply say you will do the best you can, that your door will always be open, your phone line available, and you will listen, listen, listen to what your constituents want, and to listen their ideas on how their problems might be solved.

We will not be able to undo two hundred years of  corruption in a short period of time, it will probably take two hundred years to do that.  However, it takes only one candidate to start that process.  Do your best, and listen, listen, listen.

Here's what I think.  If you are planning to run for office.  Clean out your closet.  Tell all those dark, dusty secrets.  Did you have an abortion?  Have you cheated on your wife?  Are you gay?  Have you filed misleading income tax reports?  Have you been in jail?  Are you a bigot?  Are you an abuser? Do/did you have a problem with drugs or alcohol?  No matter how ugly...lay it out there.  If you ask for forgiveness, a lot of people will forgive you...you might not get elected, but trust me, you will sleep better at night and become a better person for your confession.

If your 'secret' does not disqualify you from doing the job for which you are running and you simply say you will do the best you can to full fill the duties of your office, that your door will always be open, your phone line available, and you will listen, listen, listen to what your constituents want, and to their ideas on how their problems might be solved.  Chances are you will get elected, possibly for more than one term of office.

In the end, all we want is a hard worker in office, somebody who feels our pain, and understands we are simply trying to survive.  Somebody who does not forget  who got them their new job.