Now that the presidential election has become an all-out foot race, two local women are using their lucky rabbits' feet to help Senator John Kerry win by a hare. Or two.

Decked out in bunny suits and waving signs that read, "Hopping mad at Bush," "George Bugs me," and "Lettuce vote Bush out," Tammy Kennedy and Carolyn Lockwood-

Pitkin flashed their political messages to morning and afternoon commuters Tuesday at the intersection of Williston Road and I-89 in South Burlington.

"We want to protest the Bush administration's war against women, the environment, civil rights, all minorities and the American constitution," says Tammy Kennedy, a co-organizer of the event. "We've got to get out and do everything we can. The future of our country is at stake."

Though Vermont may be a solidly "blue" state, Kennedy and Lockwood-Pitkin aren't taking anything for granted. The last thing either of them want is to see a repeat of the 2000 election, when the Republicans pulled W. out of the hat.