War Room

It's official: Obama will win, thanks to the Redskins

On Friday, I wrote about the uncanny correlaton between the Washington Redskins and U.S. presidential elections. To summarize: Since 1936, in every election except 2004's, when the Redskins won their final home game before the presidential election, the incumbent party has won. When they've lost, so too has the incumbent party.

Monday night, my beloved Redskins were outworked and embarrassed, losing 23-6 against the visiting Pittsburgh Steelers. The Steelers used a strong ground game and played efficient, mostly error-free football to destroy the Skins.

Based on the result, the election is now all but assured to end in a victory for Barack Obama. And if the Redskins' performance was any indication, Obama won't just win, he'll blow John McCain out of the water. Who knows why they're even bothering to count the votes.  

Or perhaps they should. Remember that freakish 2004 anomaly? It could serve as a good reminder to Obama supporters about the dangers of overconfidence. After the Green Bay Packers beat the Redskins in 2004, thus supposedly ensuring an election victory for John Kerry, Packers safety Darren Sharper, a Kerry supporter, said of his candidate, "Oh, yeah, he's going to win. It's guaranteed. I don't have to vote now. Don't even have to go to the polls. Saved me a trip on Tuesday."

Burris won't run in 2010
The Illinois senator had little hope of being elected to a full term
Picture of the day
President Obama gets caught enjoying those famous Italian vistas just a little too much
Ensign says parents gave $96,000 to his mistress' family
The senator's lawyer says the payment was made out of concern for the family's well-being
On national security, Republicans trust Palin
A new poll shows continued high support among Republicans for familiar faces from 2012

Current Salon Politics Stories

Salon Politics Blogs

Recent Posts

Picture of the day
President Obama gets caught enjoying those famous Italian vistas just a little too much
Ensign says parents gave $96,000 to his mistress' family
The senator's lawyer says the payment was made out of concern for the family's well-being
On national security, Republicans trust Palin
A new poll shows continued high support among Republicans for familiar faces from 2012
Previous Posts…

War Room RSS Feed

Posts by date

July 2009
SuMoTuWeThFrSa
1234
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
262728293031

About War Room

War Room is written and edited by Alex Koppelman, with contributions from Salon reporters around the country.