Political junkies -- a term used to define anyone who pays attention to electoral politics before Halloween -- have been enjoying the campaign antics of Sen. George Allen (R-Va.) and Rep. Katherine Harris (R-Fla.) for month. Now, with the election close at hand and both parties in a frenzy (one in delirious optimism, the other simply delirious), other players have stepped to onto the stage to play target practice with their toes...

After a debate for Wyoming's lone House seat, Rep. Barbara Cubin responded to accusations that she had taken money from disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramhoff with the testy threat, "If you weren't sitting in that chair, I'd slap you across the face." The reason her opponent -- Libertarian Thomas Rankin -- is in a chair is because he has MS. This is probably the best thing to happen to the Libertarian party since taxes.

In Iowa, Rep. Steve "D.C. is More Dangerous than Iraq" King explained his opposition to illegal immigration with a plain spoken comparison: "King said at first stray cats help by chasing mice, so people feed them. King added that the stray cats then have kittens, which are liked for their cuteness, but eventually the strays, fed by the people, end up getting lazy, just like illegal immigrants." And then there's the kittens' loud music and souped-up cars... Would you let your sister marry a kitten? I didn't think so.

What's more, everyone knows that kittens can't vote. But immigrants actually can -- contrary to a letter sent out by Tan Nguyen's California campaign to "new voters with Latino surnames telling them -- wrongly -- that it is illegal for them to vote if they are immigrants." The GOP has actually asked Nguyen to step out of the race because of this goof, though he insists an aide was responsible.

Last week, Rep. J.D. Hayworth became the second Republican in Congress with a hidden Jewish background. Having already inserted his foot in his mouth by endorsing Henry Ford's Americanization" program, Hayworth was to appear at synagog for a mea culpa/outreach. He didn't show, prompting an interfaith dialog during which one of Hayworth's representatives asserted that his member's pro-life stance made him a "more observant Jew" than than those present. After the event, the same staffer, responding to the less-than-friendly atmosphere, said "No wonder there are anti-Semites." Oh, and this staffer was once convicted on gambling charges.

No wonder there are non-voters.