If you believe in tradition, superstition or pigskin, tomorrow's election results have already been prognosticated.
When the Carolina Panthers beat the Washington Redskins 21-13 yesterday, according to the "Redskins Rule", Mitt Romney will be the next president.
When the Redskins won their last home game prior to the presidential election, the incumbent party retained the White House (and by converse, if the Redskins lost their last home game prior to the election, the out-of-power party won the election).
For 15 presidential elections from 1940 (when the team arrived from Boston) through 1996, the rule held fast, and in 2000, when the Tennessee Titans beat the Redskins, it would mean a victory for the party not previously elected - the Republicans. Though Al Gore won the popular vote, George W. Bush defeated Al Gore in the election. This played a factor in the 2004 election, as a Redskins loss to the Green Bay Packers would have meant a Democratic party president, but since Gore technically won the vote, it would still (arguably) hold true.
It was eventually rejiggered as Redskins Rule 2.0, saying that when the popular vote winner does not win the election, on the subsequent presidential election gets flipped. So if you buy into that, Romney will either win outright tomorrow, or Obama will lose the popular vote but still take the Electoral College. Given the awful first few games with the replacement referees at the start of the season, I'm already putting an asterisk on the NFL this year...(but I hope Black Jesus wins over Magic Pants).
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