[DrDavid]

On Tuesday we discussed the "Redskins rule," according to which if the Washington NFL team wins its last home game before a presidential election, the incumbent party prevails; otherwise, it goes down to defeat. "As in sports," we noted, quoting an earlier article of ours, "streaks and slumps in politics go on only until they end."

I thought the streak was the last home game. This is one of those examples of bad reasoning. Somebody goes out looking for coincidences and then uses them to predict the future. There is no causal link between the Redskins and the election. There never has been.

[Arkinsaw]

I thought the streak was the last home game. This is one of those examples of bad reasoning. Somebody goes out looking for coincidences and then uses them to predict the future. There is no causal link between the Redskins and the election. There never has been.

Home teams are more likely to win. Incumbents are more likely to win. Put a string of them together and you have a meaningless statistic that won't last over the long haul.