Funny, but here in Bush Country, I’m

seeing way more Kerry bumper stickers in my neighborhood close to downtown

Dallas — which says everything about my neighborhood, and nothing about the

way this area’s going to vote on Nov. 2. My five-year-old is the big Bush

backer in our family. His mother and I are fretting over the conduct of the

war and the outrageous spending under this administration, but The Boy is

not going wobbly one bit. When the neighbors across the street put a Kerry

sign in their front yard, he was aghast. “But we know them!” he said.

“They’re my friends!” The kid and I always say his morning prayers on the

way to kindergarten, and today I heard him in the back seat saying, “Dear

God, make President Bush win, and make good laws.” So if John Kerry becomes

president, I’m thinking we’re going to have to deal with a crisis of faith

in our house, and a good two or three years before the Santa Claus thing

becomes an issue.