Jackson Free Press

Every election season, in the few weeks leading up to a major vote, the Jackson Free Press gets a front-row seat for the way candidates tend to run for office in this state. We hear very little from the candidates in the months before the election, and then about three weeks before the big day, everyone crowds the dance floor like bridesmaids lining up to catch the bouquet.

Right now in Jackson, we're seeing frantic activity as yard signs go up, billboards appear, ads begin running, and candidate forums are announced. It's a time-management mess—the kind of breathless horse race complete with the endless "media alert" faxes that corporate media adore—and it's no wonder that many voters go to the polls without a clue of what candidates stand for. They might as well be running for homecoming queen.

The problem is, these are real jobs, with real responsibilities, that affect our actual lives. Candidates, it is up to you to change this—but it's getting too late this year to eke real, respectful campaigns out of the people on the ballot.

However, it is not too late for the people, the voters, you—us—to demand actual answers from our candidates in the remaining weeks. And it is high time that the voters of Jackson and of Mississippi stop falling for empty sound bites, and learn to recognize these sorts of tidbits for what they are:

"Help is on the way! I'm going to solve crime in 90 days!"

"I'm going to run the thugs out of town!"

"Vote for me: The criminals even respect me!"

"Cost is no issue. We'll get a grant to pay for that!"

Mayoral candidate Frank Melton used a variation of each of these to pry himself into the mayor's office in 2005. He's not on the ballot this year (not directly, at least), but his "Sound Bite Express" example of electioneering is a lesson that all Jackson-area voters should apply to every single race this year.

In other words, if it sounds too good to believe, it probably is. If a candidate can't explain the duties of the office, he or she doesn't deserve your vote. If they promise the moon, we'll get stuck paying for it.

It sometimes seems that there is no city worse than Jackson when it comes to political smears masquerading as truth. The campaign to convince Jackson voters two years ago that dropping crime stats were fake is a prime example; now, as crime spikes all around us under a sound-bite police-mayor, it's obvious how silly it was to believe hype over substance then.

This year, take the CSI approach: Focus on the evidence. Don't fall for personality-based assaults and political word games. Ask real questions; demand detailed, specific answers. The future of our city and our state depends on the citizens' willingness to demand facts. Let's do it.