Truth and nothing but the truth gets my vote

Political pretense irritates me more as I get older. That includes the deluge of campaign commercials we're all about to endure, from Democrats, Republicans, Independents and whatever party emerges from the Tea Party movement.

If you aren't used to working in your shirt sleeves around cow manure, it won't do much good to act as though you are. Campaign ads will present the  politician AND the people he or she is representing in the most favorable light. I suppose some focus group or campaign adviser has told politicians they need to present a certain image to get elected and it could be that they're right about that. Personally, though, I'd rather hear the straight up truth from a guy in an expensive suit. The cowboy pose from a guy who's never ridden a horse or the politician riding around in an Army tank when he's never served in the military is pretty darned insulting.

The reporter in me sighs impatiently when I listen to the politicians or their representatives going through the set talking points on the morning news shows. There's rarely an unrehearsed, honest answer, just a whole lot of spin.  But spin is what got us into the economic, political and moral mess the country is in. Is it naive of me to want someone to stand up and tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, whatever the consequences of doing all of the above might be? Then again, my "spin" is somebody else's unvarnished truth and vice versa. One of the many problems in the country at the moment is that there are so many different ways of presenting a particular truth and so many groups that don't agree on what that might be.

I suppose all of the above is one of the reasons I don't get cable anymore. I don't want to drown in a sea of spin or political theater. Here's hoping that all of the candidates serve up less spin and more honesty this campaign season.