Tea Leaves Blowin’ in the Wind
My office is abuzz with talk of the Redskins’ loss on Sunday to the Green Bay Packers. Which isn’t to say that anyone is remotely interested in the NFL. In fact, I can’t recall a single game — including those of the undefeated Eagles — being discussed among the cubicles. The reason everyone’s so giddy about Washington dropping to 2-5 is that, according the results of the past 80 or so Presidential elections, the incumbent’s fate mimics the what happens to the Redskins on the Sunday before the election. Which is to say, if the Skins win, so does Bush; if they lose, Nov 2 goes to Kerry.
So, when I heard things like, “This was the greatest Packer game of all time,” I loaded up Internet Explorer to read more. Be warned: For all those prognosticators looking for a litigation-free Tuesday, the outcome was more than a little worrisome. In the final three minutes, the Skins scored a spectacular 43-yard touchdown, only to then have a controversial call reverse the TD. So, it seems, what would have been Washington’s biggest play of the season, turns out to have never happened according to the refs.
I’ll leave it to you, fair blog readers, to decide which swing state the touchdown represents, and whether the ref equals the Supreme Court or Tom Brokaw. But this certainly doesn’t bode well for a drama-free election day. Still, if this election turns out to be a repeat of 2000, and it comes down to a couple close states, wouldn’t it be poetic justice for Bush to win the popular vote and Kerry to win the Electoral College? Then the Supreme Court can award the Presidency to Nader/LaDuke, and everyone will be happy.
Other random presidential predictors:
1. When the American League wins the World Series the Democrats win the election 60% of the time.
2. Longer hemlines favor the Republicans. Since skirts are now the size of belts, this indicates a win for Kerry.
What about this:
The curse of the Bambino was inflicted in 1920, the same year that Harding, a Republican, beat out Cox (and running mate FDR), Democrat, for the presidency. Now the Red Sox are back on top, the Yankees lost the ALCS in humiliating fashion, and the electorate seems every bit as undecided as it was in 1920. Just as that election was basically a referendum on the Woodrow Wilson, WWI, and the League of Nations, so too is this one a referendum on Bush, Iraq, and the go-it-alone War on Terror. In other words, 2004 is the inverse, bizarro 1920, with politicians whose names invoke female genitalia instead of male.
If the Redskins lose their last home game before the election, the incumbent party will lose, unless the Red Sox have won the World Series that year.
This rule works like a charm. Maybe I can copyright it.