Labor Day weekend traditionally marks the start of the autumn campaign season, though that would suggest there’s been at least some sort of previous pause in all the political activity — and there most certainly hasn’t been any this year.

Whether in the halls of power or back home in the district, politicians today are almost always politicking, which one could argue is rapidly poisoning efforts to get the people’s business done, whether on the high courts, in the Texas Legislature or up on Capitol Hill.

For the Tribune-Herald editorial board, this season means having candidates in competitive races big and small drop by the office to talk some politics with us. It’s a chance for us to get to know them better, regardless of whether we end up recommending that our readers vote for them.

Judicial candidates are by far the most challenging to interview. They usually don’t want to comment on issues of the day for fear of looking prejudiced (in a judicial sense) if cases involving those very issues reach their hallowed courtrooms.

Result: Judicial candidates talk about their legal qualifications and possibly the weather but little else.

So it’s a relief when one comes by and we can talk about something beyond those two topics. Take, for example, Judge Bill Moody of the 34th District Court in El Paso. The Democrat is making his third statewide run for the Texas Supreme Court, but he made his first walk four years ago.

That’s when the judge resolved to walk across the state of Texas to draw attention to a job that, frankly, many Texans know next to nothing about. Most folks seem to think the Texas Supreme Court weighs in on death penalty cases when it actually deals almost exclusively with civil issues.

So, Moody figured, walking across Texas might spark the attention of voters.

“You’ve got to get traction through the media, and to get into the news you’ve got to do something a little out of the ordinary,” he said, recalling his walk from El Paso to Orange. “And, let me tell you, I earned any attention I got the hard way.”

The 5-foot-6 judge covered 1,027 miles on foot in 44 days, lost about 40 pounds between training for the walk and the actual walk (he was down to 150 pounds by the end), and came close to getting flattened by semis barreling down our highways. At trip’s end, he recalls the great relief he felt “just putting my feet in the Sabine River.”

After his walk, daughter Emily marveled at the accomplishment.

“I knew one of two things would happen,” she said. “One, you’d complete it. Two, you’d die.”

At least he proved Republicans wrong. One GOP official, hearing about the judge’s plan to cross Texas on foot, predicted he would drop dead in Van Horn, about 120 miles east of El Paso.

Moody did cite as one of the toughest parts of the trip that enormously empty distance of 100 miles between Van Horn and Pecos “with nothing in between.” On the other hand, the good folks in Monahans, also in West Texas, did throw him a breakfast when he visited their town.

“I guess not many people stop in Monahans,” he said.

The judge survived the walk only to perish at the polls. Being a Democrat in a state that readily votes Republican didn’t help his odds. One critical voter blasted Moody as being political bedfellows with Bill Clinton and Al Gore.

“This may surprise you,” Moody replied, “but during the entire eight years they were in office in Washington, neither of them ever called me!”

When asked what stood out about his walk across Texas, Moody didn’t hesitate: “To me, the wisdom of the people. You get to see such a cross-section of people. And they have a lot better judgment than some of the elites — even some of the homeless people I came across did.”

Indeed, one homeless individual he encountered in Houston was so impressed to learn he was speaking to a judge crossing Texas on foot, he paused a moment, then said: “Here, let me make a donation!”

The judge has adopted a more conventional campaign this time. He did briefly consider campaigning by blimp, but cost factors have left the idea up in the air.