Sports Election Predictors

My quadrennial post. As when Trump won in 2016, they failed badly:

• World Series Missed: The National League Dodgers won the World Series (as they did in 2020, when Trump lost). This is now 18 for the past 30, 13 of 20 since the end of WW II, and 5 of 7 in the milenium (with Trump victories providing both misses).

Washington NFL Team Missed: The Washington Commanders beat the Bears in the final home game before the election (on October 27) on a last-play Hail Mary (that some were calling the Harris Hail Mary). As a predictor of a party retaining the White House, this is now 17/22, although wrong on the last four.

Ending Sports Droughts Hit: This favors Republicans. The Florida Panthers won their first Stanley Cup in franchise history and the New York Liberty won their first WNBA title. Each team has existed for less than 35 years (Panthers founded in 1993, Liberty in 1997) so these are short droughts compared with the Phillies winning the World Series for the first time after 97 years (Reagan in 1980) or the Cubs winning after 108 years ( Trump 2016) or the Red Sox after 86 years (W. 2004). Still "first title in franchise history" represents a milestone and breaks a meaningful drought regardless of how long a team has existed.

Finally, unrelated to sports but running through my mind this morning amid news of Trump's gains with Latino voters: The old saying was "Jews earn like Episcopalians but vote like Puerto Ricans." It turns out many Puerto Ricans do not vote like Puerto Ricans.