THE POLITICS OF FASHION: Walking around Chicago over the weekend I couldn't help but notice all the Kerry/Edwards paraphernalia. T-shirts. Signs. Bumper stickers. Lapel pins.

Everywhere I looked I saw someone proudly displaying their support for the Dem ticket. Meanwhile, I saw only one Bush sign.

I wrestled with what conclusions I should draw:

a) Kerry is going to win in a landslide?

b) Chicago is a very Democratic town?

c) Bush backers couldn't care less for displaying their affinity for their candidate?

I'm sure the answer is d), all of the above, but I really think there's something to c).

I know a lot of folks in each camp. My Kerry pals are almost apoplectic with disgust for our president and, as a result, are much more likely to wear political t-shirts and display signs than are my Bush buddies. My Bush buddies, on the other hand, are a portrait of quiet resolve, perhaps not altogether wowed by 43, but certain they'll choose him over Kerry.

Meanwhile, I continue to straddle my fence, as I expect to do until election day. Maybe that sounds idiotic to some, but I think I'd like to keep listening, keep thinking, and eventually make the best choice I can with the best information available on the last day possible.

If I had to vote today, I'm back on the Bush side. My most significant disagreements with him -- on same-sex marriage (and specifically on amending the Constitution to prohibit same), abortion (I can't imagine making it illegal, but I think we should continue as a society to make them highly undesirable and yes, even stigmatized), and stem-cell research (let's not create a factory-farm scenario for embryos, but fortheloveofGod can't we please make the most of our homeless stem cells?) -- don't outweigh my utter distrust in Kerry's ability to deal with foreign policy, homeland security, and the problem of maniacal Islamic terrorists and totalitarian regimes the world over who would like to exterminate us.

So I don't expect to be wearing any t-shirts anytime soon.