A smear campaign of the ugliest sort has invaded our little town and it makes me both mad and sad.

Mad, because I despise seeing and hearing people, who are supposed to be adults, act like children by resorting to name calling and finger pointing.

Sad, because so many family members of political candidates have to deal with verbal abuse, ostracism, and outright rudeness at the hands of their loved one's opponents.

Every political campaign has its share of hardball political tactics but nothing is more discomforting than a smear campaign.

Small town politics, where everybody knows everybody else, is petty and it's personal. Everybody is viewed suspiciously by others who have their own personal political agendas and whose main goal is to win, regardless of how many lay wounded at the end of the contest.

I'm only 60 but I honestly don't think I've ever seen a local election as nasty as this one has become. We have become the Hatfields and the McCoys and we're all armed and ready for bear.

Anonymous letters written by one group maligning another have been filling post office boxes for a couple of days now. The key word here is "anonymous" so you can just about bet the farm on it; whatever is contained in the letters is either exaggeration or downright lies.

Half of the time rumors are total garbage, the other half they're based on some little bit of truth but hyper inflated to make it seem more salacious than it really is.

In my humble but accurate opinion, a man or woman who hasn't the guts to sign his/her name to a letter defaming another should be tar and feathered and strung up on the courthouse flag. The whole thing reeks of hate and ill will.

Remember, a smear does not have to be true to be effective. The most effective smears are based on a kernel of truth and applied in a way that exploits a candidate's political weakness.

Our town has become a battleground of sorts with little skirmishes being fought from one end to the other. "Troops" from one camp will meet up in the morning at a central place and proceed to pick an opponent, and his family, to pieces. I had been told this was the case but now I know it is true.

I walked into a local restaurant one morning last week to get a cup of coffee before I left to go out of town. As I entered the door I heard animated conversation from a corner table. The minute I walked inside the room went silent. You could have heard a pin drop. I turned and looked around.

People I know well and see often looked at me and immediately turned their heads. Not one word, not one hand raised in greeting.

The only explanation that made any sense to me was that I had interrupted an early morning political meeting and I, because I work for the Journal, was definitely not a welcomed guest.

Dear Hearts, this scares me.

Media folks who don't even live in Lincolnton have taken sides and stoke the fires of dissention just enough to turn once friendly neighbors into warring enemies.

My Lord people, it's just an election. By all means, pray and vote your convictions, but don't help your candidate win at the expense of another's reputation or cause the humiliation of innocent families.

Folks, we were once billed as "the little town that could" and we worked together in harmony for years to improve life for our neighbors and ourselves. Our town has made tremendous progress over the last fifteen or twenty years so we've obviously been doing something right.

So I ask you, please, as we near the November election, try abiding by the words of Benjamin Franklin who said: "Believe none of what you hear, and only half of what you see."

A quick glance at the Golden Rule every now and then wouldn't hurt either.