Watching all the political ads on TV these days, I had an epiphany.

Well 2 epiphanies, really, and the first one isn’t very deep or insightful.

My first epiphany is that polling must show Pete Ricketts is really trailing Dan Osborn. Ricketts and his surrogates have got to be running at least twice as many commercials as the Osborn campaign. And we are still over 60 days from the election. It almost smells like desperation.

Speaking of political commercials, my second epiphany has to deal with that topic as well.

My whole life I’ve paid close attention to politics and government. I’ve made a career of it. But I focus primarily on Nebraska and national politics. I know, or at least have spoken to, all the major Nebraska candidates. I am friends with, or have close working contact with, some of the people working behind the scenes of many of the candidates. I read articles and columns about the races from multiple outlets.

I don’t pretend to know everything that’s going on politically in Omaha and Nebraska, but I do think I’m more informed than the average voter who makes their choice based only on the political ads.

The opposite is true when it comes to what’s going on in Iowa politics. I don’t know anything about any of the folks running for office except what I see on TV. If I had to vote in Iowa today, I’d be an uneducated voter and probably vote for Rob Sand and against Josh Turek based solely on what I’ve seen in their TV spots.

The only reason I chose them is because those are the only two names I could think of off the top of my head. But I’m not even sure if they are running for different offices or running against each other. I don’t know what their positions are on taxes, schools, the military, or any other issue. I don’t even know if they’re Republicans or Democrats.

I just know that Rob Sand seems like a nice guy and Josh Turek misses votes. I also know there’s some guy running for Iowa governor who spends a lot of time in Kansas. I just can’t think of his name or who he’s running against right now.

My epiphany was that I was watching the Iowa elections the way a lot of voters watch their elections. They don’t dig into the details of where the candidates stand on the issues. Many voters make their decisions on how the commercials make them feel.

Take a look at some of the ads currently running here in Nebraska. Denise Powell has toned down her rhetoric. She’s not as pissed off as she was during the primary. She has some guy saying that she’ll work with both sides in Congress.

Her opponent, Brinker Harding, is also claiming that he’ll work across the aisle. He makes that point by claiming that since he is the only male in the family, he’s learned to deal with a hostile environment.

Neither of those ads makes the voter more informed. They do try to set the tone that they are nice people before the knives come out closer to November. I’ll bet it won’t be long before Denise attacks Brinker for saying that women are hostile and Brinker starts calling her Dark Money Denise.

Those ads won’t give you any real insight into either Brinker or Denise, but they do strike an emotional chord with the voters who don’t pay close attention to the details of the candidate’s policies.

Neither of what I just called my epiphanies is really an epiphany, after all. Both seem pretty obvious when you think about it. And I hope the voters will think about it. I hope that those who make their decisions on the TV ads only will do some more research and dig deeper. I hope that they will go to the websites. I hope they’ll take the time to watch the debates or go to the town halls. If a voter is feeling really ambitious, I hope they’ll walk up to them and ask them questions if they see them in the grocery store or in a parade.

And while I realize that won’t happen to the extent I wish it would, I do hope more people make a concerted effort to be more educated voters regardless of what they decide. I hope they won’t be like I would be if I were an Iowa voter.

Tom Becka is a long time Nebraska broadcaster who for over 30 years has been covering Omaha and Midwest issues on both radio and TV. He has been a guest on numerous national cable and news shows, filled in for nationally syndicated talk radio programs and Talkers Magazine has recognized him as one of the Top 100 talk show hosts in the country 10 times. Never afraid to ruffle some feathers, his ‘Becka’s Beat’ commentaries can be found online on Youtube and other digital platforms.

Opinions expressed by columnists in The Daily Record are not necessarily those of its management or staff, and do not constitute an endorsement or recommendation. Any errors or omissions should be called to our attention so that they may be corrected. Contact us at news@omahadailyrecord.com.