I am not a baseball fan. I've never lived in Boston. I find the enthusiasm for sports in general to be creepy and tribal and alienating. But when I read the headlines this morning, I felt a surge of optimism and triumph. Believe, indeed. And you know what? I am now superstitiously certain this means John Kerry will win. I'm not the first to make the comparsion between Kerry and the Sox and Bush and the Yankees—dazzling us all with pinstripes and overwhelming force and the ability to buy seemingly anyone. Versus a dogged, down-at-heels, naturally pessimistic set of players and fans who nonetheless put every last drop of effort and soul into their playing. I can't thnk of a better metaphor for Republicans and Democrats. In this election. And so Kerry too must win, at the eleventh hour, coming from behind. Don't you feel it? Don't you think Kerry himself feels it, and his campaign? It's sentimental, it's superstitious, it's absurd. But I say, God love the Red Sox. Kerry will win.