Member of Congress...There are 435 of them, each representing a geographic district with say 600 to 700 thousand souls. Our district is New York's 23rd and is the largest geographic district east of the Mississippi.

In four weeks many of us will go vote for a person to fill this position.

Few of us will cast an informed ballot.

In fact, none of us will.

There will be no indepth interviews, no debates, no vetting.

We are presented with three souls......In my case, I don't know two of them and no one has done anything so far to illuminate me....Even though I probably follow this stuff more closely than most.

All there is are 30 second TV spots and a bit of coverage and commentary on the Internet.

There is no news organization following the candidates every day. None of them can afford the manpower.

We don't know much about them other than they will create jobs, fight for our seniors and provide health care for all.

In this "special" election, there is nothing special. The candidates were chosen at cloistered gatherings of party poobahs with little media scrutiny.

There was no vetting and no coverage of the process other than to report the end result.

If you are content to rely on party label, God bless you.....You are good to go on November 3rd. If you feel you must think it through and vote for the best person....you are out of luck.

As a political figure and a talk show host I have always considered myself blessed as I get to meet so many candidates in person and talk to them.

Many others have to rely solely on the judgement of party officials and news media.

It amazes me every day how many people profess allegiance to a person they have never met and know nothing about....

The gang of three may all be decent, bright people.....they might not be...but between now and November 3rd voters need to insist on knowing more.

 Jeff Graham is the Mayor of Watertown, NY, a local business owner, and a talk show host.  He blogs at http://mayorgraham.blogspot.com/