People believe crazy things . For instance , many think thatPaul the Octopushas the index to accurately predict the winner of the World Cup . Others , likedivisive radio personality Bill Mitchell , believe that Halloween mask sales can accurately predict the election .
The eldritch thing is that , according to some datum , it ’s lawful . Halloween mask sale have accurately predicted presidential elections since 1980 when an actor baffle out a peanut farmer . There ’s not a single index of mask sales nationally , so the details vary . One exponent claims winners since 1980 , while datum from retailer Halloween Spirit claims their sale have augur superior since Clinton in ' 96 .
This year , Trump is leading 55 percent to 45 pct , allot to an early sight fromSpirit Halloween . However , they and others have noted the dissimilar tone of this election . In that , ahem , spirit , they ’ve team up up with Harris Polls to shed some light on why mass are select Trump masks .
Screengrab Bloomberg
The top response was , at 39 percent , because they thought the mask was funny . double as many people say they ’re dressing up to mock Trump as citizenry who say they ’re dress up as Clinton to bemock her . In fact , the top reason quote for get dressed up as Clinton ( 31 per centum ) was an admiration for Clinton .
anecdotical evidence affirms that data point . Though retail merchant are prompt observe the tincture of sales is dissimilar . Kim Hermann of Novelties Unlimited in Ghent , Virginia tell theVirginian Pilot , " Most citizenry buying candidate costumes are doing it to be negative . " Chloe Nelson of Spirit Halloween enunciate , " Oh , it ’s definitely all about bemock them . "
Apparently , sales of Nixon , Bush , Clinton , and Reagan masks were n’t about bemock those candidates , which is surprising . Theydosay that dressing up as a caricature of someone is the solemn word form of flattery .
Additionally , Howie Beige of Rubie ’s Costume Co. notice that having a male and a distaff candidate may also make a difference . The immense majority of masquerade - weary Halloween revelers are male . That could , at least anecdotally in the absence of a real study , have an impact on mask sale this election time of year .
In the real world , none of those asterisks really weigh because using Halloween mask cut-rate sale as an index of how an election will go is mad and really just an indication of how much citizenry are ready for this election cycle to be over . Political Halloween costumes are n’t even that popular . About four pct of adults over 35 choose to dress as a candidate in any given election year . Sexy Ken Bone and Harley Quinn / Joker jazz band are run to be far more popular despite the patent excitation many have in dressing up as The Donald and the desire for some , like Mr. Mitchell , to use masquerade party as an index ofsomething .
If mask sales were really an index of how election will swing , we ’d be sad to see That Guy From Scream leaving the White House amid a groundswell of support for Green Party nominee Slimer and vice president Sexy Super Mario .
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