I have been sitting back and watching all of this back-and-forth rhetoric between the political parties for some time.

I have noticed one universal truth: Don't believe anything you see in a commercial.

Whether the advertisement is for a new washing detergent, baby diapers, tires or a political candidate, it is most likely only half-true at best. Most likely, it is old out-and-out misleading. In other words, there is a lot of wool-pulling going on from all directions, so much so that the candidates apparently feel that the average person don't know sheep from Shinola.

As for the baby diapers I mentioned earlier, I have been watching some of the ads for the Dole-Bowles race with a sad shake of the head.

If we are to believe all the ads, Bowles is sending our jobs to China, while Dole has spent her career trying to import Chinese-style policy for our dwindling work force. Meanwhile, Dole is planning to steal the social security from old folks and Bowles made millions while pensioners went broke somewhere out there.

Hooey. That's what it is. Every bit of it from both sides is hooey. I watched the debate between Dole and Bowles intently and figured out where each stands on a few things, but very few. Most of that time was also spent bashing one another. Now that was a surprise, wasn't it?

I think you can spend so much time bashing your opponent that you don't bother coming up with, or presenting to the public, an easily understood stand of your own. That may very well be what is happening here.

I really don't know what either candidate is for, but I do know who they are against.

I hate senseless attack ads that use tidbits of fact to make broad and sweeping accusations. But even worse are ads that play on the fears of our nation's elderly and disabled, ads that claim they might lose the pension or Social Security benefits they spent a lifetime earning.

Then we move on to the other side of the coin, the support the candidates drum up by taking a stand on an issue of particular interest to an action group.

You have the teachers lobbying for more money, the conservative gun lovers lobbying for broader weapons rights and the more liberal anti-gun folks lobbying for fewer guns and fewer rights, the environmentalists lobbying for more protections and the industrial interests lobbying for less. You have the pro-life against abortion and the pro-choice groups that are for it. For any issue, I can find two sides.

While the attack ads are a disgrace, the candidates will continue to use them as long as they are effective in getting elected. The only way we can send a message is by contacting our political parties and letting them know we don't want to see stuff like that. I would much prefer to see a rundown of where the candidate stands on issues that are important to me and the country.

But more importantly, just once, I would like to vote for someone who actually accomplished at least half of what he or she was put in office to do. Wouldn't that be a miracle?

When the candidates don't do what they are supposed to do, I can't really call my party chief to complain. Even though I am registered with the best party in the state, I still have very little pull with the big two.

You see, I am not a Democrat (D) or a Republican (R), but a 'U.' That means unaffiliated, for those of you with a question. Of course, that also means that I have a right to vote for any or all parties and I also have the right to complain about all with equality — a job that I take very seriously. On the other hand, neither party's representatives seem to listen to me very much as I yell at them through the television screen during advertisements.

I think it is time the unaffiliated voters had a mascot. The Republicans have the Elephant and the Democrats have the Donkey, perhaps we should have the ostrich. Most of us unaffiliated folks simply prefer to push a voting button and proceed to stick our heads back in the sand. Think about it. I can't run for an office for my party, I can't go to my party's annual meal and I can't be elected to help lead the party, since it doesn't really exist other than in name. Therefore, I find myself wondering if I shouldn't just go to both party dinners and get it from both sides. From what I am seeing, nothing is quite as beneficial as a serving of bull with a side order of beans right before an election. So, could someone pass that bowl over here, please?

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