The debates are over, and the gloves come off

For the next 19 days, prepare to be under assault. After all, you live in a battleground state.
Three debates over two weeks provided viewers and readers some real insights into President Bush and Sen. John Kerry. A vice presidential debate gave the nation 1 1/2 hours with Vice President Dick Cheney and Sen. John Edwards.
While the debates were not perfect forums -- the formats discouraged the candidates from any true dialogue and encouraged each candidate to repeat some of the sound bites that have become part of their stump speeches -- they gave voters an insight into the policies and personalities of the candidates.
In the final debate Wednesday, both men had their human moments, as when Bush explained that prayer calmed him and gave him strength and Kerry joked about marrying-up in response to a question from moderator Bob Schieffer about the strong women in all three men's lives.
Now, the gloves are off, not that you can expect the candidates themselves to sling dirtiest of the mud. The campaign organizations of President Bush and Kerry and those of the Republican and Democratic committees seem to have settled into a groove.
In Bush ads, Kerry is lumped with liberal Democrats; in the Kerry spots, Bush is in league with right-wing Republicans. Obviously, the professionals putting together these campaigns have determined that such labels resonate with some of their target voters. But labeling and name-calling don't help the voter come to an informed decision.
Even less likely to help the voter make an intelligent choice are the commercials being financed by partisans on both the right and the left. Tens of millions of dollars will be spent in the final days of the campaign by supporters and detractors of the two major candidates.
Perhaps the tiredest of the exchanges will revolve around Kerry's war record in Vietnam and President Bush's service in the Texas Air National Guard at about the same time. By now, everyone should know that Kerry's detractors claim he did not earn his Silver and Bronze stars and three Purple Hearts and that he betrayed his former comrades in arms by becoming a vocal opponent of the war after he returned home. Likewise, everyone should know that Bush's critics accuse him of using family ties to get into a branch of the service that virtually assured him of never going to Vietnam, of avoiding months of reserve service he owed the nation and of then displaying hypocrisy by being hawkish on the war.
Filling the air waves with commercial after commercial repeating those basic themes does not serve democracy particularly well.
The important issues are much more complicated and much less easy to fit into 30 or 60 seconds. Tax policy. Health care. Terrorism. Immigration. Fair trade and free trade. The war in Iraq. Social Security. Energy policy. Informed voters will want to think about all those issues and more before casting their votes on Nov. 2. And they're not likely to get much real information on these things that matter from quick, slick commercials.