Ready or not, like it or not, Colorado voters are about to be subject to a massive sales effort over the next 10 weeks. Even leaving aside the presidential race, campaigns for the U.S. Senate seat, congressional districts hither and yon, candidates lower on the ballot, and pro and con efforts on a surprising number of ballot questions will be selling, selling, selling.

Add it all up and these campaigns will spend well over $100 million attempting to secure your vote. In the face of such a sales force, it is incumbent on intelligent voters to behave as smart, careful, discerning consumers.

Hence, a 10-piece consumer guide to what is about to unfold.

1. Check your facts. No doubt, this will come as a shock. But campaigns have been known to exaggerate. To shade the truth. To take words out of context. Smart consumers need to adapt by not believing everything they hear and bringing a healthy dose of skepticism to the table. Just because you heard something on a TV ad or read it on your Facebook feed does not make it the gospel truth. My all-time favorite headline out of the satirical Onion read simply, “Error found on internet.” Don’t be gullible.

2. Believe your own eyes; trust what you already know. If a candidate has a long history with which you are familiar, put more stock in what you have observed than in the over-the-top drumbeat of attack ads. John Hickenlooper may have developed a fondness for the occasional private jet trip. But that hardly makes him some television caricature of “Boss” Tweed. Keep perspective.

3. Conversely, when a candidate demonstrates who they are, believe them. Look at the wildly polarizing candidates in Congressional District 3 in western and southern Colorado. Republican Lauren Boebert packs her gun on her hip; flaunts COVID orders at her tavern; flirts with QAnon conspiracies; and ducks hard questions from long-time journalists. While Democrat Diane Mitsch Bush can’t decide if she’s for or against the Green New Deal; refuses to show for the traditional kickoff debate on the Western Slope; and similarly stiff-arms media requests. Both have revealed themselves. Take your choice and good luck.

4. Read the Blue Book. In addition to all of the candidates, Colorado voters will decide a number of contentious ballot questions. Including repeal of the Gallagher Amendment; a minor decrease in the state income tax; a tobacco tax hike; a requirement for voter approval of major fee increases; a ban on late-term abortions; Colorado’s participation in the National Popular Vote Compact; a statewide medical and family leave plan; and even the reintroduction of gray wolves. You need not be an expert on every issue. But you ought to be informed and consider the arguments for and against each. The Blue Book, mailed to all households and also then available online, is the source. Use it.

5. Do the arithmetic; add it up. As in most elections, Denver voters will decide multiple requests for tax increases. In 2018, there were four such proposals. All passed. This year, there will be at least two – a quarter-cent sales tax jump to fund climate change response and another quarter-cent for additional programs to combat homelessness. Year after year, many of these requests are for seemingly worthy causes. The dollars appear rather negligible. But there is a cumulative impact. A quarter-cent here and a tenth of a penny there, year after year, adds up to real money.

6. Shepherd your ballot. Coloradans can be grateful — and proud — of our proven, reliable, secure process of voting by mail. Were only the rest of the country so equipped. Still, smart voters will mail their ballot early given delays in the postal system. Those wanting to hang onto their ballot for any late decisions should use a drop-box which are abundant in most parts of the state. Keep the stub to track your ballot to be sure it is received and tabulated.

7. Help those in other states where voting may be more difficult. Be an even better citizen. Get in touch with family or friends in other states where voting while staying safe might be more complicated. Help them navigate their state’s process if need be.

8. Split your ticket. Unless you are an unbending, hardened partisan, try to find at least one candidate of your non-preferred party for whom to vote. Even if it is for an office lower on the ballot. Many won’t believe it in the current context, but ticket-splitting used to be the rule of the day. Especially in independent Colorado. A vibrant, sane, sustainable American political system requires two healthy parties. Do your part in promoting that.

9. Limit your media consumption. Last I looked, televisions came with an off switch. And a mute button. Most homes have a DVR. How hard is it to put a trashcan near your mailbox? Wise voters will turn to fair and reputable sources for most of their information. While doing their best to filter out the junk and the excess. On that score, social media has its uses and addicting lure. But ask yourself, how illuminating really is that latest, alarmist, factually challenged post from the most amped-up, unyielding member of your particular bubble? Give it a rest.

10. Demand better. If you find much of what passes for political discourse these days to be sordid and demeaning, there is only one way to change it. That being to quit rewarding it. Candidates and their consultants offer up an excess of tawdry, negative ads and vacuous soundbites not because they don’t work, but because they too often do. Think of politics as a marketplace. The only way to reduce the supply of misleading garbage is to reduce the demand for it. Stop responding to the muck and swill — and be surprised how quickly the purveyors of politics raise the bar. Politicians won’t arrest this downward slide on their own. Only informed, conscientious voters (and, yes, consumers) can insist on it.

There you go — 10 consumer hints for a better campaign experience. You can thank me later.

Eric Sondermann is a Colorado-based independent political commentator. His column appears regularly on Sundays in ColoradoPolitics. Reach him at EWS@EricSondermann.com; follow him at @EricSondermann