The answers to the clues below will have something in common:

1. Negative political campaigning
2. Without airs
3. Very inexpensive
4. Tiny whirlwind
5. First floor, usually
6. Imperfection or weakness, mortal condition
7. Practical and realistic in one's thinking
8. At the center of a disaster or activity
9. Two inches that rule the world
10. Immediate involvement and effort in a new job or undertaking

Answers:

1. Mudslinging
2. Down-to-earth
3. Dirt cheap
4. Dust devil
5. Ground level
6. Feet of clay
7. Both feet on the ground
8. Ground zero
9. Top soil
10. Hit the ground running 

Credit: LA Times Crossword
Jan. 7, 2009
Norma Steinberg
ON THE GROUND (#1-4)