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There's nothing quite like an election year to bring out the often irreverent but much-needed comic relief of some twisted minds.
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From bobble heads and action figures to special cocktails and video parodies, there's something for everyone to have some fun this year. Here are just a few of my favorites:

A rat race

It's one thing to call politicians rats. It's quite another to actually make them into fuzzy little rodents.

But that's exactly what one toy creator has done.

Jay Kamhi, inventor of the Spice Mice collection, this week unveiled George W. Bushy-Tail and Hairy Kerry. The talking mice each have four pre-programmed partisan phrases.

George W. Bushy-Tail, a brown mouse wearing a cowboy hat and a huge grin, says, "I am the right mouse for the White House" and "The cat from Iraq is in my sack and he's not going back ... jack."

Hairy Kerry, a gray mouse sporting a full head of gray hair, says, "It is time for a new mouse in the White House ... and I support this message" and "Where are the weapons of mouse destruction?"

Sure, they're a bit corny, but they've been a hit so far. Kamhi, whose office is in Clearwater, Fla., took several hundred of the mice to Boston this week and handed them out to reporters and dignitaries. Even Kitty Dukakis got a kick out of the Kerry mouse.

"She listened to it and laughed," Kamhi said. "She ended up carrying it around the convention hall."

And for a bit more cheesy humor, Kahmi is tracking sales of each mouse to see how buyers will vote. You can cast a vote by buying your favorite mouse, a.k.a candidate, at www.spicemice.com . Results of the first round of polling will be posted today and updated every two weeks until the Nov. 2 election.

"It's a real rat race," Kamhi said.

Drinking up politics

If the talking mice didn't do it for you, maybe you need to try these special election year cocktails.

The Distilled Spirits Council of the United States this week sent out a list of top campaign cocktails being served at some of the country's hottest political watering holes.

In honor of the Democratic convention, the Willard Inter-Continental in Washington, D.C., created the Boston Sidecar (1/2 oz. brandy, 1 oz. rum, a splash of Triple Sec and a splash of lime juice). At the Rise Bar in New York, it's the Compassionate Conservative (1.5 oz. orange vodka, passion fruit puree and a splash of champagne).

And for the nonpartisan drinker, there's the red, white and blue martini, a concoction of vodka, pineapple juice, Coco Lopez and half-and-half layered just so to create a colorful glass fitting for members of either party.

After a few of these, those mice will seem awfully funny. So will the candidates.

Hot cartoon spoof

You definitely won't need a cocktail to enjoy this one. In fact, millions have been going hysterical over this election spoof of Bush and Kerry singing a parody of "This Land is Your Land" by Woodie Guthrie. Some have even set it as their home page and have a difficult time turning it off to write a column.

The hilarious cartoon, created by brothers Gregg and Evan Spiridellis, has Bush galloping by singing, "This land is your land, this land is my land. I'm a Texas tiger, you're a left-wing wiener." Kerry intones, "You can't say nuclear, that really scares me. Sometimes a brain can come in quite handy."

If you haven't already seen it, and so many millions of people have, you must log on now to www.jibjab.com .

Since launching earlier this month, the site has been so overwhelmed with hits the server has nearly crashed a few times.

But whether you're a "liberal wiener" or "right-wing nut job" - you're sure to get a hoot out of this one.

Copyright © 2004. Lansing State Journal.