According to readers of _Scholastic_ magazines (250,000 kids under the age of 18) in some swing states , Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) should be the next president of the United States. USA Today is reporting today that kids in Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania chose Obama. McCain won Colorado, Indiana and Missouri. The margins were closest in Iowa and Missouri, with the winning candidate getting 49 percent of the vote.Interestingly enough, kids have correctly picked the next president in 15 of the last 17 elections. They missed the mark in 1948 by picking Thomas Dewey and again in 1960 by going with Richard Nixon. (But, in their defense, their voting had been closed before the televised debates.)So, here’s my shameless plug for this blog (no, it’s not whom I’m voting for…that’s a secret) – your kids can vote on Election Day, too! Kids Voting Kansas sets up booths at polling places (every single one in Douglas County) and then report the final outcome. So, take your kids to the polls! (And to the Rock the Vote/First Time Voter Rally this Saturday from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Lawrence Public Library!)So, whom will your kids pick? And why do kids have an 88 percent prediction rate? Do they know something we don’t?They’ll be voting for real eventually. Might as well get in some practice. It’s what all the cool kids are doing (that and the Robot.)