Although I usually don�t care much about baseball by the time the World Series rolls around, I have to say I�m a little disappointed by the outcome of the Houston/St. Louis series. I was hoping for a Texas vs. Massachusetts match-up just in time for the election. Because, you know, the competition needs to be a little more heated.

There was an article in this morning�s Wall Street Journal about how parents are propagandating their kids this Halloween (Propagandating is too a verb! I made it up! Just now!). It described three-year olds with bumper stickers on their fairy costumes. It also interviewed one man who was planning on conducting his own pre-election poll by handing out Dum-Dums to Bush supporters and Wacky Taffy to Kerry supporters. I�m all for getting the word out, and the poll seems harmless enough, but the fact is that those in costume are not of voting age. Although he�s trying to understand what all the fuss is about, AJ hasn�t a clue what the presidential election is all about. We�ve been reading election-themed books (Duck for President and Vote! are our current favorites) and I plan on taking him to the polls with me, but putting a �VOTE KERRY� sticker on his costume, whatever it may be makes me a little squeamish. This is the same reason why I have not purchased him a �Mommy wants a new president� T shirt. My boy is not a billboard for my beliefs. He deserves the chance to come up with a few of his own. I am intrigued, though, by the way this particular election seems to have motivated individuals to campaign for their candidates in a way that I have not witnessed before. The unsettledness of the country�s leadership is adding to the general anxiety in a house where two of the three residents each have a few too many deadlines in the next couple of weeks. I think we�ll all breath a sigh of relief on November 3.

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