However we rarely make it through an election season without smear and other diversions. There was the notion we wouldn’t hear as much of it this year believing this would be an atypical campaign with candidates known for claiming to pride themselves on character and integrity. However we’ve already been doused with a dose of sludge and some claims have been rather thin questioning how in touch with everyday people one of the candidates is.

Sometimes knowing a candidate’s background can help understand where they stand now. Anyone who gets elected has years of life experience behind them. Issues of a specific person’s past and how familiar they are with everyday people have already come up as an issue this year and thus are worth looking at.

Senator Barack Obama comes from a working class background in Hawaii where his mother stressed education. He followed in that course earning his way into Columbia University in New York City where he majored in political science. He went from there to work for two organizations one specializing in economic research and consulting for corporate and government clients and the other concentrating on public policy.

Next he worked for a Catholic Church based grassroots community organizing group out of Chicago. He spent three years there working for tenet’s rights, jobs and college prep tutoring. He completely immersed himself in striving for working class and poor families in the communities where they lived.

He went on to Harvard Law School where he worked hard, got good grades and graduated with honors in 1991. Next he put his energy into directing a voter drive in 1992 which through a lot of hitting the pavement and knocking on doors successfully registered 150,000 new voters in Illinois. He taught law and worked at a law firm, which specialized in economic development among other things, over a twelve year period starting in 1992. His career in office started in 1996 when he was elected to the Illinois State Senate.

Obama met his wife, a lawyer two years his junior who came from a working class blue collar family, in 1989 at a law firm where the two were employed. They became engaged in 1991 and were married in 1992. The couple had their first daughter in 1998 and their second in 2001.

Senator John McCain was born into a military family in the country of Panama at an American Naval Air Station. His father and grandfather both served in the Navy as Admirals. Like Senator Obama Senator McCain moved around with his family to various postings nationally and internationally until they moved to Virginia in 1951.

He followed in his parent’s footsteps entering the Naval Academy at Annapolis instead of enlisting after high school in 1954. He graduated from the academy in 1958 and graduated from flight school in 1960 becoming a Navy pilot. He married his first wife in 1965 who had two children. The couple then had a child of their own.

McCain went on to serve valiantly in the Vietnam War flying missions aboard the USS Forrestral in 1966 until 1967 and after a fire aboard the vessel he transferred to the USS Oriskany. He was shot down during a bombing mission in 1967 and taken prisoner. He remained a POW and endured various kinds of psychological and physical torture from his captors until 1973.

He worked as the Navy’s liaison to the US Senate starting in 1977 and first decided to go into the political life there. In 1981 he retired from the Navy highly decorated and went to work for his father in law’s alcohol distribution company as Vice President of Public Relations where he met many powerful influential people and gained influence himself. In 1982 his political life began after running for the U.S. Senate and winning.

In 1979 McCain met his second wife a school teacher fifteen years his junior who was an heiress to an alcoholic beverage distribution fortune. McCain quickly divorced his first wife and the two married in 1980. The couple had their first child in 1984, their second in 1986, a third in 1988 and adopted a fourth in 1991.

Recently this year’s personal attacks emerged from someone who always claimed to pride themselves on character and integrity. For example he attacked his opponent for his celebrity, something both the candidates have had at varying times in their careers. The tone of the attacks attempted to paint that candidate as being out of touch and elitist due to popularity from standing up for change instead of continuing the old habits and ways of thinking that led us to where we are in Iraq and the economy.

The candidate who was attacked spent years successfully working on behalf of working class and impoverished Americans at the grassroots level. There is nothing representing the lifestyle of the wealthy 1% of the country in working class and impoverished neighborhoods where times are often tough and the majority of our men and women in uniform come from. The financial success of that candidate’s campaign comes from grassroots organizing and small contributions from millions of ordinary people not the usual avenues being power and influence. It’s been seen as a definite shift from politics as usual something most voters want this year.

Out of touch and elitist is not the reality. Both candidates took trips abroad during this election season. One candidate’s trip was cited for among other things helping to restore our national image abroad in regions crucial to trade and national security. The other’s was cited for promoting NAFTA and giving reassurances about his commitments to it in countries south of the border. Both were covered by the press and accomplished some of their goals.

Harsh and petty campaign attacks are not change. People claiming to care about character and new directions should be able to prove that. Smear tactics are expected, inevitable and something the current administration became famous for. Low tactics are particularly popular for people who have begun to fret. Unfortunately once the smears start it is usual for them to continue. The message from voters this year is about a difference let’s hope the symbols of business as usual and low pitches for four more years doesn’t suck us in. This year voters want change let’s hope both candidates get that.

To read about my inspiration for this article go to www.lawsuitagainstuconn.com.