Jon Ralston cuts through spin to prepare the public for election season

Wednesday, June 14, 2006 | 7:13 a.m.

I know it's late - 45 days until early voting begins - but you still need to be warned: People in politics think you are stupid.

Don't misunderstand: Some of us in the media think so, too, although I prefer the word "ignorant" to describe too many voters who will go to the polls on Aug. 15 and Nov. 7. But as the ad and/or press release a day season has begun, I must attempt the seemingly futile endeavor of presenting some admonitions.

I understand the borderline despair Joe Klein expresses in his wonderful new book, "Politics Lost - How American Democracy Was Trivialized by People Who Think You're Stupid." Klein is talking about presidential campaigns, but the notion that spin/polls/cynical stratagems govern politics is applicable to state and local races, too.

Like Klein, some of my better friends are spinmeisters, with some striving for something approximating intellectual honesty and others who simply couldn't recognize such a thing if it hit them in a TV ad. So what's the answer? There isn't one and there are too many out there.

But beyond the utility of transparent, daily campaign finance reporting and mandatory, televised (and video-streamed) debates on a monthly or even biweekly basis, it might help a little if people paid more attention and saw through some of the obvious stuff. To wit:

Those are just some examples. I could provide plenty more. But the general rule of caveat emptor applies.

Don't buy anything you see on TV from now until Nov. 8 - rarely will the ads tell the whole story, and be sure to watch the "Reality Check" segments on "Face to Face" and Channel 8's news if you want the truth.

Don't pay any attention to endorsements - many are not based on a candidate's merit but other factors such as who will win (The Las Vegas chamber endorses Rep. Jim Gibbons now! Such a deliberative process it must have been!) or who is the mayor of your city (The Henderson chamber endorses the Henderson mayor! Stop the presses!).

And don't trust anyone who says they have experience, can provide leadership or have integrity - this is where the old saw about showing rather than telling might come in handy.

Something tells me you aren't listening, but I did my best. But if you would just consider these things, then perhaps you are not as stupid - excuse me, ignorant - as some might think.