In the midst of the most interesting presidential campaign in generations, as Wall Street melts down and Washington debates a financial rescue, it's easy to forget that there are other decisions facing us here in Maine on Nov. 4.

That's when voters will cast ballots for their representatives in the Statehouse and on a statewide initiative to reject an increase in beverage taxes. All House and Senate seats are up for grabs, and, while many of you have been thinking hard about whether to vote for McCain or Obama, here at the Kennebec Journal, the editorial board has been interviewing a long line of candidates who want to head to Augusta. The interviews give us information for our editorial endorsements, which will begin running in the newspaper in early October.

Our board consists of Publisher John Christie, Executive Editor Eric Conrad, and me, the opinion page editor. In the interviews, which we conduct with both candidates simultaneously, our questions reflect our collectively held belief that to prosper, the state must reduce the income tax, especially on working families. We believe the state must move spending from the short-term programs that keep Maine stuck where we are, to long-term and strategic investments, such as higher education, research and infrastructure.

We ask candidates why they're running; what role they believe state government should play; what they think about the state's tax structure, school consolidation mandate and new beverage tax; and how they would deal with the $600 million gap between proposed state spending and actual state income in the upcoming budget (it was $400 million when we started the interviews back in August). After more than a dozen interviews with pairs of candidates, some themes are emerging:

* "Protect the vulnerable" is one of the mushiest and most overused phrases in the political lexicon. Many candidates say that's the role of government, but whether "the vulnerable" consist of small children, small dogs, old folks, school superintendents, everyone on Dirigo or state workers isn't clear at all.

* Very few candidates will say how they'd rein in state spending. It's hard to get elected by describing, in detail, who you'd hurt when you get to Augusta. But we do hope that candidates actually know what they'd cut and are simply hiding their thoughts from us because, if this many would-be lawmakers truly have no idea how to tame the state budget, it's going to be chaos when the Legislature convenes.

There was one notable exception to this trend -- when one candidate told us bluntly that the state's 55 percent share of local education spending would have to be cut. "We're going to have to pull on our big girl pants and do it," she said, and we almost applauded in relief at her candor.

* Most Democrats and Republicans say that school consolidation was a good idea that was badly executed. The words "chaos" and "unfair" come up a lot in discussions about consolidation. They also resent that it was forced upon them by being put in the state budget by Gov. John Baldacci.

* Speaking of parties, it's hard to be a Republican lawmaker in Maine. Perennially in the Statehouse minority, Republican candidates often will tell us all about their grand plans, then hesitate ... and say, "Of course, since the Democrats control the place, it's hard to make any of this happen." One veteran GOP lawmaker was disarmingly honest, though. He told us that he figured his job was really to do constituent service, since he couldn't get much done legislatively as a Republican.

* Euphemizing is a disease that strikes long-term legislators. Tax increases are called "adjustments." Pet-project spending is called "an investment." Shifting taxes around, but not cutting them, is called "tax reform." "The executive branch" is the phrase that's used when trashing the governor, especially when describing something that's been shoved down the Legislature's throat by the governor. See: school consolidation, above.

While more than a few candidates seem taken with themselves, Maine is lucky to have a large number of people willing to work long hours on our behalf for little pay and slight reward. Many of the folks we interviewed aren't just candidates for the Statehouse jobs; they also sit on town budget committees and school boards, serve on the regional planning groups that are hashing out consolidation plans, work as selectmen or health officers or volunteer for charitable, veterans or church groups.

We asked one of the more green-behind-the-ears candidates, "Why qualifications do you have to be in the Legislature?"

"I'm a citizen of Maine, and we have a citizen Legislature," he shot back. "So I'm qualified."

For better and worse, that's the spirit.