This election cycle is even worse than usual because of the amount of untraceable money. As I note in Following Politics Too Closely Makes You Stupid, nothing can be learned from a thirty second ad. Unfortunately, there are so many of them they are impossible to ignore.
If you have a small amount of energy to devote to politics, I recommend keeping a pencil and paper and jotting down the name of organizations sponsoring ads (Citizens for All Things Good). Look for the organization on the internet. If it does not list where the money comes from, that should be a black mark against the candidate. Whoever is sponsoring the ad is spending a lot of money to get the candidate elected (or to defeat the opponent). The sponsors will want something in return, but they don't want you to know who they are.
- Following Politics Too Closely Makes You Stupid
- It is Your Civic Duty - Lie to Political Pollsters
- Machine Politics
A little off topic, but related to many of the current election discussions is
Why Does Government Interfere With Markets?
