Just before Halloween and Tuesday's election comes the "Monster Slash," an animated parody of President Bush's environmental policy that Bobby "Boris" Pickett sings to the tune of his 1962 hit "Monster Mash."

It's one of hundreds of election-related jokes, cartoons, flash movies and doctored photographs that weary, obsessed Americans are circulating by e-mail in the run-up to Bush's showdown with Sen. John F. Kerry.

In part, communication experts say, the proliferation reflects America's cynicism with politics and psychic need to poke fun at the famous. But they said the lampoon also has become a way for the everyman to digest complex political issues and explore the campaign with others.

"There's an eloquence and economy of expression. ... There's a power to it," said John Louis Lucaites, associate professor of rhetoric and public culture at Indiana University in Bloomington, Ind.

There's no way to vote for Kerry on one e-mail "ballot." When a person tries to move the cursor to the box beside Kerry's name, the box skitters away, leaving only the possibility of voting for Bush.

It's a funny reminder of the vote-counting controversy in Florida four years ago. Lucaites said it's also a sobering statement about flaws in the nation's voting system and fears that not every vote will be counted Tuesday.

"There's a fair bit of concern among some populations right now about whether we're going to have a legitimate election," he said.

Bruce Gronbeck, professor of communication studies and director of the Center for Media and Political Culture at the University of Iowa, also sees the lampoons as more than comic relief.

In 2002, Gronbeck said, he surveyed 1,600 people in four states and learned 30 percent used humor as a source of political information. "This is an amazing thing," he said.

While yard signs, bumper stickers and buttons remain popular, he said, e-mail has given average citizens another means of political expression.

If a cartoon meshes with a person's views, he passes it on, perhaps adding his own commentary. If the cartoon doesn't appeal to him, he deletes it.

Like reality television, election spoofs reflect America's fascination with the blurring of news and entertainment, said Henry Krips, a professor in the University of Pittsburgh's communication department.

Terrorism and other issues may be deadly serious. But Krips said the injection of humor allows the election to be viewed as real and a game, "an extended version of 'American Idol' where the candidates can't sing as well."

Some material, such as "This Land," a flash movie that flooded in-boxes during the summer, provides bipartisan ribbing. But most material, such as a video portraying Kerry and Sen. John Edwards as more than campaign partners, is strictly partisan.

Cartoons and flash movies are the tip of the iceberg. Also circulating are jokes about Bush's resume and Kerry pandering to a minority group; a slide show likening Bush's economy to that of the 1930s; doctored versions of famous posters, including a "Gulf Wars" spoof of a "Star Wars" poster; and photos of the candidates in drag.

Computer-based gags are the latest twist in what Lucaites called a long American and British tradition of political satire. Unlike previous forms of satire, however, e-mail messages circulate at tremendous speed and with a market penetration advertisers would relish.

"Monster Slash," featuring a chainsaw-wielding Bush and horrified forest creatures, generated nearly 268,000 viewings its first week. As he did in the original song, Pickett sings each verse and every other line of the refrain:

The Campaign to Protect America's Lands and Defense of Wildlife Action Fund said they released the movie Oct. 20 to generate opposition to a Bush administration initiative that would open 58.5 million acres of federal forest to logging and other commercial interests. If the movie affects the election, campaign director Peter Altman said, that's a byproduct.

The movie site links viewers to a petition they can fill out to demand forest preservation, and Altman said more than 37,000 so far had seized the opportunity. He said the movie has allowed the environmental groups to reach citizens who knew nothing about the controversy.

The origin of other material, such as the "Rowboat Veterans for Truth" Web site, isn't evident. The site invokes George Washington's storied life in revisiting questions that Swift Boat Veterans for Truth raised about Kerry's Vietnam service and fitness for command.

"We speak from personal experience -- our group includes men who served beside Washington in combat against unarmed Germans on Christmas night 1776," the Web site says. "Though we come from different backgrounds, shoe-menders, haberdashers, stable boys, candle-holders to the wealthy, etc., and hold varying political opinions, we agree on one thing: George Washington lacks the potential to lead."

Politics aside, Gronbeck said, some creators of election messages probably just get a kick out of seeing their work rocket around the world.

And could humor be the nation's common ground?

Even if people disagree with the "Monster Slash" message, Altman said, they can appreciate the humor. He said he figures Bush administration officials are passing the video around -- and laughing like Democrats.