With less than two weeks to go before Election Day, it seems like most of the challengers are in need of some face time. Not TV ads or their smiling mugs on hastily planted street signs, but rather getting in the faces of the incumbents they are going to a great deal of trouble to try and unseat.

All too often through the myriad of public forums and debates staged in efforts to glean the candidates’ beliefs and stances on issues, the newcomers have been content to sit back and tow the company line — standing up for better education, improved communications between government and residents, safer streets, cleaner water, better approaches to homelessness, etc., etc.

They’d be hard-pressed to find a resident in Santa Monica who didn’t stand for those utopian goals and broad ideas, but not all of these residents pulled papers and had the compunction to become an elected official. The difference is supposed to be a specific agenda or alternative ideas, at least a fresh approach, to the perceived ills that afflict our city, school district and community college. New tactics. New philosophies. How will a candidate work to achieve those goals we all stand for? That’s where the elected officials and the also-rans are separated.

While they are certainly “candidates,” not all have shown themselves to be “challengers,” allowing the incumbents to speak from experience at the various forums without calling them out on specific voting histories and political approaches. The result has been lackluster races thus far, with slates of challengers beginning to meld together in the public psyche, handing a considerable advantage back over to those running for re-election. As it is, incumbents seldom need an extra advantage.

To the candidates out there knocking on doors and shaking hands this weekend, and straight through until Nov. 7, it’s crunch time. Let’s see a little pop.