The political season is certainly in full swing. As mud season approaches, not all the mud will be in driveways and dirt roads. There will be plenty of it being slung at and by political candidates.

I don’t pay much attention to any of it. It seems to me that most of the candidates have a lot to say about what their opponents will do badly or won’t do at all. It doesn’t seem like they have a lot to say about what they themselves really can and will do if they are elected.

I have yet to hear a single candidate say, “Things are a real mess and there isn’t much I can do to fix it, but I’ll try my best.”

It’s really hard to figure out who the best candidate for the job is. They tell us only what they want “we the people” to hear or what they think “we the people” want to hear. Their opponents tell us it’s all lies with the other guy or gal and the truth when they say it.

These are the people who, if elected will be making the decisions that will affect you and me.

I have a better idea than politics as usual. It’s too late for this election year, but for future elections it should be made a law.

When anyone decides to run for the Oval Office, the House or Senate here’s what they should have to do before they throw their proverbial hat in the ring: spend a year as one of us.

They would have to live in a regular everyday apartment or house and pay rent/mortgage, heat, electricity, telephone, insurance, taxes and all the other usual costs of living.

And they would have to cover those expenses by holding down an everyday type of job. Let’s say an $8-to-$10-an-hour job. Their spouses can work too for a similar wage just as most of “we the people” do.

Naturally, out of that wage will come federal and state taxes, FICA and health insurance, if they are fortunate enough to work for a company that offers it.

Since most of the people who run for elected office on this level have adult children they should be loaned two or three young children so they can have the full experience of “we the people.”

At least once during that year the everyday type of car they have to make monthly payments from their meager wages will be rigged to breakdown, like maybe three weeks before Christmas.

If they are very lucky they will be able to go the full year without having to deal with any prescription drugs, but with two or three children that is unlikely. I would imagine that coping with the real world would lead to at least a prescription for Prozac.

If they are also very, very lucky they won’t have any medical or dental issues come up to test just how good or bad their health and dental insurances really are, assuming they have health and dental insurance that is.

They will, however, need to have regular medical and dental checkups for them and the kids. I wonder how they would budget for that.

Again, if they’re very lucky those checkups won’t fall during heating or holiday seasons or when back to school shopping is necessary.

And, if their luck holds during that year their furnace will not break down, no appliances will go on the fritz and none of the kids will get into any kind trouble.

After the would-be candidates have lived this life for a year, then and only then could they have any insight in making any decisions for “we the people” because this is what faces most of us every day.

I know the idea of the politicians walking a mile in our shoes by living a year of our lives is just fantasy, however, I do believe that the learning experience for them might give them a different perspective when they have to deal with issues such as health care, education and Social Security.

Imagine if the politicians who end up grilling the big oil company executives about the multi-billion dollar profits had spent a winter on macaroni and cheese in order to heat their homes. The questions might be a little harder edged.

Imagine if the people in the position to make decisions concerning our lives had actually lived them.

The way I see it, that would be a very good thing for “we the people.”