It begins

Three months from today, the Feb. 2 primary election will be held. A year from today, Nov. 2, 2010, the general election. Yet, we've been bombarded with campaign propaganda since Labor Day. Anybody else feeling campaign overload even before it's officially begun? Hundreds of candidates finished filing their petitions to be on the primary ballot Monday in Waukegan and Springfield. Locally, it appears most incumbents will have no primary opposition on either the Democratic or Republican ballots. Despite complaints from unruly voters, it appears few will have the opportunity to express their displeasure at the primary polls come February.

Except, that is, on the statewide level, where a plethora of candidates want to be governor, lieutenant governor or U.S. senator. Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes, seeking the Democratic nomination for governor, made a foray into the county over the weekend, seeking to woo votes at the annual Lake County Democratic Women's luncheon in Mundelein. Meantime, candidates and public policy groups have been surveying voters and tracking candidates' polls for months.

For weeks, Hynes and Gov. Pat Quinn have been trading "attack" ads in the expensive Chicago media market, airing some plainly outrageous commercials. One from the governor accuses the comptroller of getting a haircut instead of paying attention to the state's fiscal meltdown. Quinn says he's just responding to what he considers to be Hynes' less-than-truthful television advertising.

But the haircut issue is plain silly. If this is the best two major-party candidates can do on educating voters, it sets the tone for a long three months of negative campaigning. In the end, this type of punch and counter-punch does nothing to take the dire issues facing Illinois to the level they demand.

The candidates, gubernatorial and legislative, need to get on track and begin to tell us how they are going to fix years of inept governance in this state. Those who have primary opposition have three months; those who make the cut, one year.

And a warning to voters: Don't be fooled by the smoke and mirrors of slick media campaigns. These candidates have some explaining to do. Listen carefully to what they say. Or in some cases, what they don't.

OUR VIEW