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Redskins Rule
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Redskins Rule is a trend involving NFL football and United States presidential elections. Briefly stated, there is a high correlation between the outcome of the most recent Washington Redskins home football game and the U.S. Presidential Election: when the Redskins win, the party which won the popular vote in the previous election wins the electoral vote for the White House, and vice versa. This coincidence has been noted by many sports and political commentators.[1][2]
Contents [hide]
1 History
2 Results
3 References
4 External links
[edit]History
The Redskins moved to Washington in 1937. Since then, there have been 18 presidential elections. In 17 of those, the following rule applied:
If the Redskins win their last home game before the election, the party that won the previous election wins the next election. If the Redskins lose, the challenging party's candidate wins.
The Redskins Rule was first promoted by Steve Hirdt, executive vice president of the Elias Sports Bureau, in 2000[2]; as a matter of Washington folklore it was already established by the time of the 1992 election.
In 2004, the Redskins lost their last home game before the presidential election, indicating the incumbent should have lost; however, George W. Bush (the incumbent) went on to defeat John Kerry. Steve Hirdt, credited with the discovery of the rule, then modified it to refer not to the incumbent party in the White House but to the party that last won the popular vote. In the election in 2000, Al Gore won the popular vote, and thereby the revised Redskin Rule has been upheld.[2] However, under this variant of the rule (in which the winner is judged by the popular vote), the rule would have failed in 2000, when the Redskins lost their last home game but the incumbent party received more votes.
On November 3, 2008, the Redskins lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers, thereby predicting a win for Illinois Senator Barack Obama over Arizona Senator John McCain (as George W. Bush won the popular vote in 2004).[1]
[edit]Results
Year Presidential Election
Result Redskins
(Score) Opponent
(Score) Redskins
Win or Lose? Incumbent Party
Wins or Loses
Election*? Rule
upheld?
2012 Obama vs. Romney Redskins Carolina Panthers TBD TBD TBD
2008 Obama defeats McCain Redskins 6 Pittsburgh Steelers 23 lose loses yes
2004 Bush defeats Kerry Redskins 14 Green Bay Packers 28 lose wins no
2000 Bush defeats Gore Redskins 21 Tennessee Titans 27 lose loses yes
1996 Clinton defeats Dole Redskins 31 Indianapolis Colts 16 win wins yes
1992 Clinton defeats Bush Redskins 7 New York Giants 24 lose loses yes
1988 Bush defeats Dukakis Redskins 27 New Orleans Saints 24 win wins yes
1984 Reagan defeats Mondale Redskins 27 Atlanta Falcons 14 win wins yes
1980 Reagan defeats Carter Redskins 14 Minnesota Vikings 39 lose loses yes
1976 Carter defeats Ford Redskins 7 Dallas Cowboys 20 lose loses yes
1972 Nixon defeats McGovern Redskins 24 Dallas Cowboys 20 win wins yes
1968 Nixon defeats Humphrey Redskins 10 New York Giants 13 lose loses yes
1964 Johnson defeats Goldwater Redskins 27 Chicago Bears 20 win wins yes
1960 Kennedy defeats Nixon Redskins 10 Cleveland Browns 31 lose loses yes
1956 Eisenhower defeats Stevenson Redskins 20 Cleveland Browns 9 win wins yes
1952 Eisenhower defeats Stevenson Redskins 23 Pittsburgh Steelers 24 lose loses yes
1948 Truman defeats Dewey Redskins 59 Boston Yanks 21 win wins yes
1944 Roosevelt defeats Dewey Redskins 14 Cleveland Rams 10 win wins yes
1940 Roosevelt defeats Willkie Redskins 37 Pittsburgh Steelers 10 win wins yes
* Although the incumbent party won the 2004 election, which would break the rule, the incumbent party had not won the popular vote in the previous election, thereby generating an alternate variant of the rule which was actually upheld.
[edit]References
^ a b "Redskins loss points to Obama win". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 2008-11-04.
^ a b c "Redskins Rule ideal for 'Monday Night'". Washington Times. 2008-11-04.
[edit]External links
Peter Baker (2008-11-04). "Is Redskins Game an Omen for McCain?". NY Times Blog.
Tim Lemke (2008-11-03). "Redskins Rule ideal for 'Monday Night'". Washington Times.
"Obama elected after Redskins omen". BBC. 2008-11-05.
"The Redskin Rule". Today's ACC Headlines. 2008-11-03.
Adam Schefter (2008-11-02). "Who Obama, McCain should Root for Monday". NFL Blogs.
Chris Sprow. "The Redskins Once Again Control the Presidential Election". ESPN.
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This page was last modified on 1 November 2012 at 23:22.
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