This year the candidates are campaigning especially aggressively. Hillary Clinton, John McCain and Barack Obama are all vying for our attention. They each want to convince us they are the person best suited for the job of President of the United States of America. All we must do is vote for them and they will deliver on their promises, they tell us. The messages morph and evolve depending on the issue. It’s that precious commodity they are each competing for called votes, and only we can deliver them.

The style of each candidate varies according to their personality, their party lines and of course their overall message. However there is something different about this campaign even when compared with recent years. The primaries have become more of a spectacle and even more dirty. The field’s been whittled down to three candidates with one presumptive Republican nominee and two Democratic candidates still battling it out for their party’s nomination.

When George W. Bush was running for what would become his second term he went to work trying to convince us his party was not only stronger in terms of the economy, but also when it came to military savvy. We believed him although there was a nagging sense we were being duped and strong armed. Those people who raised questions about the legitimacy of the Iraq War and issues of intelligence warnings gone unheeded prior to 9/11 risked being ostracized and treated like traitors.

Even the opposing candidates stepped lightly when handling of the war issue during the 2004 elections. A Vietnam veteran’s service to his country was successfully called into question without much firing back from the Democrats about leaders on the other side who had skipped out on service and taken numerous deferments. Bush had been spun into a hero and anyone publicly raising doubts about that would have been right to be nervous. At that time his line was vote for me or vote for Al Quaeda and he created enough doubt to get us to buy it. Now his own party is distancing themselves from the president whose administration was once painted as a beacon of strength and sound leadership.

After all he had that legacy boosting him up. As things turned out it was just the name and problems with the economy Bush 1 and Bush 2 had in common and Operation Iraqi Freedom was a sham. We knew something was wrong about Iraq and other issues arising from his first term, but for whatever reasons we ignored that. The Bush administration promised the American people quick results and healthy returns which are promises they will break and never fulfill.

We can’t take that back now and we’ve had to live with the deaths of thousands of U.S. soldiers and a disastrous economy. To deal with the crisis we have heard little substance and a lot of bickering. Each side has posed some good arguments and some which beg more questions. We are all excited about exiting the current situation and a new administration could be the first step in that direction.

Some of the methods employed by certain candidates are starting to sound familiar. We are currently at the stage where once again people are telling us to vote for them or danger and doom will befall us. “Vote for me otherwise you will suffer the consequences.” “A vote for the other person is a vote for the terrorists.” But we don’t get any substance.

We don’t need more of the old tactics as we’ve tried that, and we’re banged up because of it but wiser just the same. We don’t need to be told how we should vote any more than how we should live. We already know how we want it to be just give us our options. We want Candidate Y to tell us their ideas and the others to tell us what they offer and we‘ll take it from there.

American voters aren’t enemy forces needing to be divided and conquered with scowls, fist pounding and warnings of an apocalypse. We’re well aware another Oklahoma City bombing or 9/11 can happen without warning. We don’t like it, but we know it’s possible. We are citizens who send forth members of our own populace to represent our voices in making decisions which will impact this nation. We don’t want hate mongers, instigators or petty tyrants among the bunch who get to go. We don’t want Candidate Y telling us how bad Candidate Z is when we all know if Candidate Z gets elected Candidate Y will announce, “I wholeheartedly accept Candidate Z as my president.”

Just lay it out. Say what it is and we’ll choose. We don’t need angry car sales people banging on the window all red faced while we’re testing the lights yelling about how they will throw in satellite radio. We don’t need someone telling us if we buy a car from the person across the street the transmission will fall out as soon as we leave the lot followed by us getting hit by a speeding tractor trailer, and that they are only telling us this because they care so much about us.

We want a vehicle for change not candidates in need of anger management. Try to convince us, but don’t try to conquer us. If nothing else the candidate who behaves like a dictator is just indicating how far away from the rest of us they’ve gone in their quest for power and how little substance they have to offer. We don’t need nor do we want any more mission accomplished banners while soldiers are dying on the battlefield. What we need right now is to come together.

To read about my personal experiences with people using 9/11 to sell an illegal sham go to www.lawsuitagainstuconn.com.