Ken Jackson
Sports Writer

As I sit in the comfy, tan recliner, coming out of a leftover Halloween candy-induced diabetic coma — and discovering that the Tampa Bay Bucs are 5-2 — I came to an equally sedate realization.

Boy, sure glad that’s over.

While I could be talking about the Florida-Georgia game, I’m obviously getting at the blessed ending of the election campaign.

The quiet after all the racket at the house — the phone calls, the mail, the signs, the nasty repetitive attack ads — is blissful.

And after all that noise, the Democratic Party got exactly what it had coming to it. Just about every bombardment I caught from them urged me to vote a straight party ticket. Silly me, I was supposed to vote for the party rather than the candidate, and not look at the name and what it stood for.

The Democrats set themselves up for their fall, and boy did they fall down together. And by the way, in state races I voted for two Democrats, three Republicans and a Libertarian (I wanted nothing to do with that Rubio/Crist/Meek race).

Sorry kids, I’m an emphatic moderate — I will find fault in all of you. Look elsewhere for party loyalty.

Unless you’ve got good candy.

So what does all this have to do with football?

Well, like local Osceola County Commission candidate Armando Ramirez, Boise State may get blindsided by some late-arriving ballots.

Luckily for you, we create the ballot and cast the votes for the Mighty News-Gazette Top 13. Here’s this week’s results:

1. Auburn. 2. Oregon. 3. Boise State (TEA Party member — Tortured Enough Already). 4. The red and blue New England Patriots. 5. The Bucs (talk about a darkhorse candidate). 6. “I Voted” stickers. 7. Sparky, an all-time great. 8. UCF (Will the Big East vote for it?). 9. Poll workers (kudos to them, Tuesday was a 14-hour day). 10. The New York Football Giants. 11. The San Fran Baseball Giants. 12. New York’s “The rent is too damn high!” guy (My Political Season 2010 MVP). 13. Anybody picking up roadside campaign signs.

As for who I’m voting for now:

Florida (-14) at Vanderbilt: Commodores are third-party candidates who have cashed major-party checks for 70 years. Must be nice. Gators by 18.

Maryland at Miami (-10): Terrapins are a write-in candidate; who knows a thing about them? Canes by 7.

North Carolina at FSU (-9): Butch Davis falling out of favor with his Chapel Hill constituents. ‘Noles by 10.

TCU (-6) at Utah: CNN would call this a primary. I call it a play-in among the outsiders. Utes by 3 in a “Heck, Rick Scott Won Too!” Upset Special.

Alabama (-6.5) at LSU: A well-funded campaign, or what we call the SEC Game of the Century of the Week. Tide by 2.

Arkansas at South Carolina (-3): Jerry Brown got re-elected as California governor after serving in the ‘70s. I mention that as I say the name Steve Spurrier. Gamecocks by 3.

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Tampa Bay at Atlanta (-8.5): Like a well-connected but unliked senator, Bucs are living on borrowed time. Falcons by 10.

Miami at Baltimore (-5): Dolphins 4-0 on road, 0-3 at home. Those are trends. Football players aren’t as reliable as voters, though. Ravens by 7.

Kansas City at Oakland (-2.5): This one just sounds fun. And since I can’t get the right read on K.C. this year, Chefs by 3.

Indianapolis at Philadelphia (-3): Looks like a mismatch, but here’s my poll data: Andy Reid is 11-0 off the bye week as Philly’s coach. Iggles by 4.

Pittsburgh (-3.5) at Cincinnati: Steelers are much better but Bengals will be powered by hate and loathing. Let the mudslinging begin! Steelers by just 1.

Brian “Big Man” McBride’s Super Sniffer Upset Special: Cowboys over Pack by 7.

Petey “The Gators Are Gonna Win” Covino says: Gators by 10.

Rick Pedone says: TCU by 12, Colts by 1 and Da Raidas over the Chiefs by 3 on a 48-yard field goal by George Blanda with 2 seconds left.

Last week: Senior Simpleton (5-3, 44-38) edged Vegetating Voter (4-4, 48-34).