Odd presidential election predictors
Who needs polls and political science models when you have squirrels and cookies to predict elections?
Who needs polls and political science models when you have squirrels and cookies? Check out these 12 offbeat methods of predicting who will win the presidential election.
Who needs polls and political science models when you have squirrels and cookies? Check out these 12 offbeat methods of predicting who will win the presidential election.
Halloween masks: Spirit Halloween has correctly predicted who would come out on top in the presidential election based on which candidate’s mask sold better in every election since 1996. Obama has been outselling Romney 60 percent to 40 percent.
7-Eleven coffee cups: Convenience store 7-Eleven lets coffee drinkers proclaim their candidate of choice based on the cups they select. The company freely admits the poll is completely unscientific, but it has correctly predicted election results since 2000. As of Tuesday, Obama was ahead 59 percent to 41 percent.
Psychic animals: Just about every election and sporting event has at least one animal predicting its outcome. This year, Gnocchi, a squirrel in South Carolina, ate more nuts from a Romney bowl than an Obama bowl, thus predicting a Romney victory. (Gnocchi was nuts for Obama in 2008.) On another animal-related note, professional pooper scooper Jim Coniglione predicts Romney will win because he’s picked up more dog doo that looks like Romney than Obama lately.
Kids' choice: Scholastic has organized a mock vote for students under 18 since 1940, and the kids’ choice has gone on to win all but two times. This year, 51 percent of the 250,000 students who participated voted for Obama, 45 percent voted for Romney and 4 percent picked another candidate.
Cookies: Family Circle magazine has collected cookie recipes from candidates’ wives since 1992 and asked readers to pick their favorite. The winner has ended up as first lady all but once. This year, Michelle Obama’s White and Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies edged out Ann Romney’s M&M’s cookies by a mere 287 votes among the 9,000 cast, suggesting an Obama win. (Of course, you could take a stab at bipartisanship and try making both recipes -- that way, your taste buds will win.)
Online gambling: Gamblers at intrade.com have correctly predicted the winner of the presidential election since 2004, according to ABC News. On Tuesday, the site gave Obama a 62.6 percent chance of winning based on bets.
Washington Redskins: Look to the results of the last Redskins home game before the election to see which candidate will come out ahead -- a Redskins win predicts a victory for the incumbent, while a loss means the challenger will win. This rule has held in 17 out of 18 elections since 1940, according to CNN. The Redskins have a home game against the Panthers on Sunday.
World Series: In most election years, if an American League team wins the World Series, a Republican wins, and if a National League team wins, a Democrat gets into office. This predictor hasn't been completely accurate dating back to 1908, but it has been correct for the last three elections, according to CNN. Since the Giants won, that predicts an Obama victory.
L.A. Lakers: If the L.A. Lakers make it to the NBA finals in an election year, expect a Republican victory. That rule didn't hold true in 2008, but it was correct the previous eight times the Lakers made it to the finals in an election year, according to The Daily Beast. Since the Lakers weren't in the finals this year, that suggests an Obama victory.
Candidates' heights: The taller presidential candidate has won 80 percent of the time, according to US News and World Reports. Since Romney has a slight edge on Obama in that department, the height rule predicts a Romney win.
Last name length: The presidential candidate with the longer last name has won in 15 of the last 23 elections, according to The Daily Beast. Romney has a one-letter advantage in this one.
Astrology: A panel of five top astrologists says an Obama victory is written in the stars, according to ABC News. This panel predicted to 2008 election correctly.
