Step 1:  Shut the #!$% up.

Seriously.

Take the 'big' race here in Missouri as an example, because it's the one I can't avoid right now.  Here's what I've learned so far from watching campaign ads:

• Claire McCaskill supports the stem cell initiative because she wants to clone an army of Stormtroopers and take over the galaxy.  She also evaded property taxes while her nursing-home-owning husband sold patients' organs on the black market and they're currently hiding the money in Bermuda.  And clearly her mom doesn't watch TV much because she still thinks her daughter wouldn't stoop to running negative ads.
• Jim Talent, on the other hand, opposes the stem cell initiative because he doesn't want Parkinson's patients to have things like hope, cures, wheelchairs, beds, food, or water.  He also thinks wars would be cheaper and more fun if we made the troops fight in their underwear with no guns, and he voted to kick puppies 483 times while in the Senate.  But the most damaging charge is that even though he is a Republican, he votes with Bush 94% of the time.  (And clearly, the other 6% were the puppy-kicking bills.)

And after seeing this crap endlessly for over a month, I'm supposed to care which one of these Anti-Christs gets elected?  Give me a break.

If we're going to ban online gambling because the average American can't be trusted to do it responsibly and pay their bills anyway, then we also need a complete ban on political advertisements, because the average politician has demonstrated that they cannot use them responsibly.  Instead of an expensive campaign designed to mislead American voters, lets have a controlled system designed to inform voters.  I'd suggest:

• First, a standard 'report card' compiled by the media, which shows each candidate's true voting record and stands on the main issues.
• Then, candidates may only address the people through sponsored forums, which should be pre-recorded so the statements made by the candidates can be checked for accuracy (and inaccuracies displayed on the screen). 
• Lastly, candidates should be absolutely banned from trying to tell us what their opponent thinks.  Tell me about yourself, or shut the #!$% up. 

For non-candidate issues, follow these same rules with representatives from the committees supporting and opposing the issue.  I'm not saying the media is completely without bias either, but they're sure as heck less biased than the candidates are.  And who knows, the newly informed voters might care more than the old, misled ones did.