Karl Rove, meet Brett Favre

Here's the story behind the game played today:

Game with Redskins could swing election: Winning, losing loom as more than a game

By ROB REISCHEL

Special to Packer Plus

Posted: Oct. 27, 2004

Green Bay - Over the next few days, you'll be bombarded with polls regarding the presidential election.

You'll hear that John Kerry leads here and George Bush is ahead there.

But if you believe in certain superstitions, the most telling indicator might actually come by watching the Washington Redskins and Green Bay Packers on Sunday afternoon.

Over the past 17 presidential elections, the outcome of Redskins football games has correctly predicted the winner every time. If Washington has lost its final home game leading into the election, the incumbent party has lost the White House. If the Redskins won, the incumbent party has stayed in power.

So make no mistake about it, Kerry figures to don a cheesehead Sunday afternoon. Bush might throw on a pig nose and Clinton Portis jersey.

"Are you serious?" Packers running back Tony Fisher said when told of the scenario. "So if we beat them, Kerry should win? That's crazy. Crazy.

"Obviously, it does matter who is our leader. But that's crazy if we're going to leave it up to a football stat. That's real crazy."

Crazy, but true.

The stat dates back all the way to 1936, when the Redskins franchise was actually playing in Boston. That year, the Boston Redskins defeated the Chicago Cardinals, 13-10, signaling a victory for the incumbent Democrats. Two days later, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, a Democrat, remained in power with a victory over Alf Landon, the Republican governor from Kansas.

Since then, no poll has been more tried and true. The Redskins have won their final home game nine other times, meaning the incumbent party remained in office.

A Washington victory was good news for Roosevelt - who was elected to an unprecedented four terms - and the Democrats in both 1940 and '44. Democrat Harry S Truman pulled a shocking upset over Thomas Dewey in 1948, two days after the Redskins whipped the Boston Yanks, 59-21.

In 1956, Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower won his re-election after the Redskins defeated the Cleveland Browns. Lyndon Johnson, who took over as Commander in Chief after John. F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, and the rest of the Democrats were happy for a Washington victory in 1964.

The Redskins won in 1972 and Republican incumbent Richard Nixon won his re-election bid. Ronald Reagan (1984) and George H.W. Bush (1988) kept the Republicans in power following Redskins' victories. And Democrat Bill Clinton (1996) won a second term in 1996 after a Washington victory.

On the flip side, Redskins' defeats have spelled doom for the incumbent party.

In 1952, Washington fell to Pittsburgh, 24-23. Two days later, Eisenhower defeated Democratic candidate Adlai Stevenson and became the first Republican in the White House in 20 years.

Kennedy put the Democrats back in the White House in 1960, following a Redskins' loss. There was also a changing of the guard in 1968 (Nixon over Hubert H. Humphrey), 1976 (Jimmy Carter over Gerald Ford), 1980 (Ronald Reagan over Carter) and 1992 (Clinton over Bush) following Washington defeats.

The stat might have gotten its most stern test in 2000, though, when the Redskins lost to Tennessee, 27-21, on the Monday night before the election. Democratic candidate Al Gore won the popular vote the next night, but George W. Bush won the electoral vote by five, signaling a changing of the guard and keeping the streak intact.

"So if we go win, Kerry's going to be the man," wide receiver Donald Driver said. "That's fine. Just so we win."

That seems to be the general consensus of everyone in the Packer locker room. Still, some are hoping to buck the trend with both Packer and Republican victories.

Right guard Marco Rivera is a major Bush-backer, largely because of his handling of the Sept. 11 tragedies and the war in Iraq. Defensive end Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila fears a tax hike if the Democrats take office.

"Let's just put it this way," Rivera said. "I want to win. If history repeats itself on election night, I wouldn't say I'm fine with that. But I definitely want to win first and foremost."

Others like Michael Hawthorne and Fisher couldn't imagine anything better than Green Bay winning and history following course with a Democratic victory two days later.

"I'll tell you who's not getting my vote and that's the guy that's in there right now," Hawthorne said. "He's not getting my vote. I don't think he listens to the people. It' what he says or what he may say or it's the highway.

"There's no sitting down and talking about it and being reasonable about things. You're making enemies with the whole world when you decide to go on your own and do a lot of things that are against what the major powers think. That's kind of isolating yourself. We talk about a war and all that. Well, it's a war for all the wrong reasons."

Others like Driver haven't decided which way they'll vote yet. And some, like Bubba Franks, would rather not share.

While the Packers are like much of America and don't agree which way to vote Tuesday, they all concur they desperately need a victory. Which if history holds true, would thrill the Kerry camp.

"I don't too much go by the history of things," Franks said. "All I know is we're going to need that win. So it's looking good for Kerry."

Added left guard Mike Wahle: "We're going for the win. No doubt about it. Let's hope it's the Democrats."

And the final score was . . . Packers 28, Redskins 14.

George, we hardly knew ye!