2nd Grade on Election Day

Go Steelers! Here's Why...

As I check email and half watch Monday Night Football on ESPN, I heard them say something interesting. The Washington Redskins are playing the Pittsburgh Steelers tonight. It seems the Redskins final home game before an election has "predicted" the outcome of an election in 17 of the last 17 instances.

When the Redskins WIN, the party that won the popular vote in the previous election has won the White House.
When the Redskins LOSE, the Party that LOST the popular vote in the previous election has won the White House.

Plainly, a Redskins win is good for McCain, a Redskins loss is good for Obama.

Hmm... Redskins halfback Clinton Portis is on my fantasy football team this season, but as frivilous and unscientific as this "prediction" business is, I'm going to have to cheer for the Steelers tonight.

Both candidates are also supposed to be on at halftime. Should be an interesting game.

McCain vs. Obama on Science (Gizmodo Repost)

It's easy to know where presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama stand on ever-hot topics, like the war or abortion. But what about various areas of scientific interest? Science Debate 2008 has made it their focus to clarify each candidate's stance on issues like genetics research, energy and space. The full text is available at that link, but for those who enjoy abridged versions, the New York Times did a nice job of cutting the big block of text into bite-sized pieces.

The NYT points out that both candidates agree that global warming exists, though McCain would like to see carbon emissions drop by 60% while Obama aims for 80%. Similarly, both agree that genetics research is promising but frightening in its implications, assuring to fight workplace discrimination based upon one's genetic code and continue the genetic modification of crops.

The biggest difference I noted was McCain's interest in space. It's one of the few responses where McCain's opinion is lengthier and more policy specific than Obama's, assuring continued NASA funding and naming space exploration as a "top priority" while citing project goals like shortening space shuttle redesign turnaround. Obama feels it's more important to delegate the responsibility/policy, opting to reinstate a White House Space Council.

But there's lots of interesting stuff we haven't even mentioned here. [Science Debate 2008 and NYT]