Dear Readers,

If I believed everything I saw on TV commercials, I would have a 28-inch waist, a full head of hair and no aches and pains.

Unfortunately for me, sometimes TV commercials don't exactly tell the whole truth about the products they are trying to get you to buy.

But then you already knew that some of the wonderful products advertised on TV are not always so wonderful in person.

As we enter the last month of the “silly political season” we are bombarded with commercials touting the candidates for political office.

The first commercial touts Paul LePage, our Republican governor, as being great because he limited welfare for the needy. The next commercial touts Mike Michaud, LePage's Democratic challenger, who says he is a good guy and will get everyone to to put down their partisan clubs and work together.

Then comes a pitch from the other guy in the race, Eliot Cutler, an independent, who says unlike the other guys, he has a plan to fix stuff and make the state's problems go away.

Sure they will, although the commercials fail to mention some of the state's biggest problems, like what they would do about the closing of paper mills that threw hundreds of Mainers out of work.

And if you believe all the stuff in the commercials, you might just believe I can give you a good deal on the Southport bridge over the Townsend Gut.

So, as you sit in the soft chair in your living room, who do you believe? Who can you trust?

Here in the USA we have a right to vote, but few of us get a chance to meet candidates like LePage, Cutler or Michaud. Few of us get a chance to look them in the eye, ask them a question or two and try to get some sense of what they are all about.

So, if we can't believe all the claims in the TV commercials and don't get a chance to size up the candidates in person, what are we to do?

Here at your local Midcoast newspapers, the Boothbay Register, the Wiscasset Newspaper and the PenBay Pilot in Camden, we sat down and chatted with Michaud and Cutler. You can read our accounts of our interviews in our news pages and on our websites.

We have asked to sit down with LePage, but so far, he and his staff declined our request. We hope the governor, a new homeowner in our community, will change his mind and talk to his local paper.

You can find additional information on the candidates and their campaigns in our regional newspapers, on TV news shows and on some radio stations.

But the best way for most of us to take the measure of the candidates is to watch how they perform in debates.

So far, the three candidates for governor will participate in five debates. They will share the stage on Oct. 8, in Portland, Oct. 9, in Waterville, Oct. 15, in Augusta (on TV), Oct. 20 in Portland (on TV) and Oct. 21 in Auburn (on TV).

How will they act in an unscripted situation? How will they react to each others charges and counter charges. Tune in and watch. It should be a better use of your time than the fifth rerun of an old cop show.

No, most of us won't get a chance to sit down with the candidates for governor. But in a debate we can get a sense of how they react under pressure, and maybe that will give us some idea how they might perform as the leader of our state.

In any event, the debates could provide us with an interesting evening.

And they might give each one of us enough insight to allow us to cast an informed vote on Nov. 4.