When it comes to being tired of politics after this campaign season, the kids beat us to it.

When talking with hundreds of children of all ages at MegaHalloween on West Minnesota

Avenue, I saw shades of politics but almost no political outfits.

The results of the annual swing into kids’ culture with inquiry into their most popular outfits can now be revealed — at least for the hundreds of kids who didn’t just walk past Egghead Central as I chatted with each Trick-or-Treater. The top contenders included some gender contests, with Witches squeaking past Vampires and 9 Moms but only 7 Dads. You go, girls! But more of the women parents reported as Tired or Stressed Moms and one was an Inmate with her child the Cop — that’s taking “follow the child” to a whole new level.

And now, MegaHalloween, DeLand, USA, The Top Ten:

1-Skeleton, 26 All human skeletons but for one unlucky dog

2-Witch, 22, including one Wicked Witch and 2 Glindas—is this evidence that the arc of the universe is long but it bends toward good witches? Is this a reed of hope for Democrats whose presidential candidate Republicans portrayed as a witchy woman?

3-Vampire, 21, including 2 with “no teeth.” Does this foreshadow that Democratic fears have been overdrawn?

4-Ghost, 18, including one “kind of a Ghost”

5-Dinosaurs, 16, including 3 T Rexes, with one of them “deflated”

6-Spider-Man, 15, including one Spider-Woman

7-Pirate, 14

7-Scream, 14

9-Ninja, 12

10-Cat, 10

10-Cheerleader, 10, including one “Fear Leader”

10-Grim Reaper, 10

That’s the count from the second-most-important election of the season. Stay tuned for fallout from that other election, and maybe the kids can provide some lessons for dealing with that.

— Paul Croce taught history at Stetson University since 1988 and directed the American Studies program. Can you guess his outfit for Halloween 2024? Here’s a clue…. With retirement, he is applying his teaching and research to The Public Classroom, https://publicclassroom.substack.com/about, for bridging the academic world and public life and for listening across differences.