Six weeks from now we will cast votes in the 2010 primary elections. You wouldn’t know it because of the absence of TV and direct mail ads. Candidates can’t raise the money needed to advertise, due to the economy, corruption, and voter unrest.

The mood of the electorate is sour. Prospective voters are telling focus groups and pollsters they are disillusioned with both political parties and disgusted with politicians who don’t look after the best interests of the average person but do look after themselves or special interests. They are downright angry at the gridlock, partisan politics, name calling and tone of the public debate. There is a real “throw out the incumbent” mindset evident from top to bottom of the ballot.

Having followed political campaigns more than forty years here is a blueprint for candidates in 2010. For starters this is no time for glitzy, gimmicky campaigns. Voters want to see and hear the candidate personally talking so that they can size up their character and integrity. If a candidate isn’t willing or able to face me on TV and tell who they are and what they stand for they will not be get my vote.

Don’t insult my intelligence, either. I know times are bad and I don’t care which political party is to blame. I also don’t care what you are against as much as I want to know what you are for. This is a time for honesty, for real solutions to real problems and for those solutions to be realistic. We are fed up with the vitriolic tone of public debate right now, so don’t fill our mailboxes with smut about your opponent or, if you do say anything about the opposition, have genuine facts to back up your statements.

Here is what we, the people want. We want government, whether federal, state or local that works. We want elected leaders who work as hard solving problems as they do getting elected. We want action oriented leaders who don’t sweep problems under the rug but employ vision and initiative to make things happen. Since resources are scarce these leaders must be capable of setting priorities, funding the higher ones and eliminating those not crucial. Programs should accomplish what they set out to achieve, but we can understand if a program doesn’t work at first, so long as leaders admit failures and fix them. And these leaders need to communicate with us honestly, openly and frequently.

Even in this off-year election much is at stake. In the U.S. Senate and Congressional races the makeup of the next Congress will be extremely important in determining direction for the economy, two wars and any number of other critical issues. Our state legislators have difficult decisions to make about our state economy, education, health care, transportation and these 170 members will also be responsible for redistricting that will affect our state for the next decade. Our judicial, sheriff and local races are equally important.

Previous mid-term elections predict that those who don’t vote may ultimately decide who wins. If only a few vote it means your vote counts even more, so if you are truly unhappy with the way things are going or if you have specific opinions about how things should go it is your responsibility as citizen to vote this year.