There are dozens of polls and sophisticated formulas that have accurately predicted presidential elections, but the Spirit Halloween Presidential Index gets the award for being the sweetest.
With over 1,000 stores, the Halloween retailer has a simple predictor that's correctly picked the winning president since 1996. It simply counts the sales of candidate masks.
The "mask factor" is typically unveiled around Halloween, but they gave Secrets a sneak peek. As of today, it's Obama in a scarefest, 69 percent to 31 percent, the widest margin since Bill Clinton beat Bob Dole in 1996. Back then, Clinton masks outsold Dole masks 71 percent to 29 percent.
"Election years are always exciting times around Spirit Halloween, as our Presidential Index has proven to be a consistent and accurate predictor of the next president for nearly two decades," said Steven Silverstein, president of Spirit Halloween.
To promote the mask election, they also teamed with Rock the Vote, a news source for younger voters. "What better way to add to that excitement than teaming up with Rock the Vote, the best source of information for young Americans before they head to the polls," he said.
2008 Spirit Halloween Presidential Index
John McCain 40%
Barack Obama 60%
2004 Spirit Halloween Presidential Index
John Kerry 35%
George W. Bush 65%
2000 Spirit Halloween Presidential Index
George W. Bush 57%
Al Gore 43%
1996 Spirit Halloween Presidential Index
Bill Clinton 71%
Bob Dole 29%
