Yes, it definitely is "party sports".
Since you mentioned your 10 year old daughter, I wonder how kids (and adults) react when campaign manager 'A' says "We feel confident that we'll win Ohio"....and then campaign manager 'B' (with 99% of the precincts in, and 'B' losing by over 100,000 votes) ALSO saying 'we feel confident that Ohio is ours'.
Everyone talks about parents needing to supervise a child's viewing when 'adult movies' come on - this seems to be a similar form of 'adult content' that could confuse kids, or encourage them to exhibit similar behavior!
As for the 269-269, I'm kind of glad it didn't turn out that way. Regardless of how one feels about either candidate, I think the result of that would be bad for whichever candidate (and his eventual administration) would prevail. As much as I did everything in my power to vote against Kerry - HAD he won, I would rather have seen Kerry win by the 'normal' means than through something more drawn out.
Kevin