MANKATO — Ahhhhhh. ...

That’s the sound of Minnesotans watching TV and seeing only ads for beer, cars, fast food and various pharmaceutical aids.

The campaign is over and so are the attack ads for another 16 to 18 months.

A dozen or so Mankato voters interviewed on Election Day were unanimous in their disgust with the political advertising and claimed the ads had no impact on their decision. Campaign strategists obviously disagree with the second part of that and will continue the onslaught in 2012, but area voters insist it’s a waste of money.

“Way, way too many ads,” said Louis Blocker, a Bethany Lutheran College student. “... People stop listening to them.”

“The ads kind of annoyed me,” said Brianna Dodgen, another Bethany student, who wished more of the TV spots would focus on a candidate’s plan instead of his opponent’s faults. “Focus on what you’re going to do.”

Minnesota State University student Dan Clark said he thinks he saw “all of them” but that they’re too shallow and dishonest to affect how he votes.

“They rarely do because they’re so misleading, no matter the party,” Clark said. “It only offers a snapshot when you need the whole picture.”

Dreaming of a fix

Congressman Tim Walz ran plenty of ads, and the bulk of them were aimed at Republican opponent Randy Demmer. But at least voters knew who was responsible for them.

A new source of campaign ads was spawned by a Supreme Court decision last winter that allows corporate and union contributions to be made to groups that can run the ads without disclosing the donors. Walz said that has to change so that there’s light shined on who’s behind political attacks.

“We have got to fix that issue,” Walz said on election night. “There’s got to be disclosure. The American public deserves to know.”

The fix might be a challenge to pass because Republican leaders opposed legislation — known as the Disclose Act — to address the issue, and the GOP made big gains on Election Day, winning control of the U.S. House.

What goes up ...

They’re not as annoying to most people as the ads, but candidates know they’d best get their lawn signs down quickly after an election. First, there are legal requirements that they must be removed in a timely manner. Secondly, most people are ready for campaign clutter to be gone.

A pair of local legislative candidates were driving the roads of their district, weeding the landscape of lawn signs, when reached on cell phones Wednesday afternoon for post-election interviews.

“I think people will be a lot happier when we get this done,” said Sen. Kathy Sheran of Mankato, who had about 1,200 signs scattered across Mankato, Nicollet County and Sibley County.

Try as she might, Sheran wasn’t expecting to get 1,200 back. Vandals and some strong wind storms had already taken a fair share.

They’re moving on up

State senators faced another chore after Election Day — moving out of their offices. For the many incumbent Democrats who lost, it meant packing up the files, the plaques, the art work and the rest of the accumulated clutter and hauling it home.

In the ground-level hallway in the state Capitol where Sheran’s office was located, hers was the only one that housed a winner on Tuesday.

“I’m the only one left,” Sheran said.

In all of rural southern Minnesota, there are just three Democratic senators remaining, she said.

But even the winning senators will be moving. Democrats will be surrendering the coveted offices in the Capitol and moving to the State Office Building across the street. Republicans, who have resided in the SOB for 38 years because they were the minority party, will finally be moving on up to the deluxe offices on the hill.

Sen. Julie Rosen, R-Fairmont, admitted she was thinking about the office she’ll seek. Obviously, Rosen was more excited about the opportunity to set the legislative agenda, lead a committee and take the state in a new direction, but she was also pleased to say good-bye to the SOB.

The walk from the Capitol — usually via the tunnel leading under the street from the Capitol to the SOB — was one that minority party senators make hundreds of times every session. Rosen won’t miss it.

“Especially since I had foot surgery,” she said.