The Washington Redskins: will they predict the outcome of the US election this time?
Photograph: Doug Pensinger/Getty Images Sport
If John Kerry loses the election on Tuesday, it won't be for want of good sport omens. First, his home team, the Boston Red Sox, trounced the St Louis Cardinals in four straight games to take their first World Series victory since 1918.
Now the Washington Redskins have come to his rescue by losing a football game. Here's how it works: the Washington Redskins have correctly predicted the presidency in every election since 1936 (Franklin Delano Roosevelt, since you ask). If they win their last home game before the election, the incumbent wins. Unfortunately for George Bush, they blew it, losing 28–14 to the Green Bay Packers on Sunday.
Just to nail home the theory, the Redskins' career as kingmakers began after the team was renamed in 1933. They used to be known as the Braves, and they were from … Boston.
If that omen doesn't suit, though, I have another. Halloween mask sales have predicted the presidency for the last six elections, according to Buycostumes.com, a non-partisan costume sales site. Bush masks outsold Kerry masks by 53% to 47% this year. This is a particularly pernicious predictor, as many revellers no doubt bought the masks to make fun of the candidates, rather than to support them.
