Rugrats for Kerry

James Wolcott is calling the election: Kerry 55, Bush 45. How did he arrive at this precise outcome? He cribbed from the Nickleodeon kids poll — which, compiling responses from some 400,000 rugrats, gave the election to Kerry by an even wider margin — 57 to 43. Wolcott is no dummy. The Nickleodeon survey has correctly predicted the last four presidential elections. But why is Wolcott making it a closer race than the Sponge Bob Squarepants fan base sees it? “Since kids are naturally exuberant, until it’s beaten out of them by the System, I shaved off two points from Kerry, gave those two to Bush.”