The Spooky Thing About The 2012 Presidential Election

The 2012 Presidential election - Halloween Style?? I'm sure your picturing the candidates in costume. Not so. Think about this, I'm about to blow your mind.

Since election day was standardized in 1845 there have been 6 presidential elections held on November 6th and Republicans have won all six. That means next Tuesday, the 7th Presidential election held on this date, will either break or uphold a streak that began in 1860 with the election of Abraham Lincoln.

Right around 1792, the few states that existed had a range of dates on which to conduct presidential elections. Then in 1845 Congress standardized the date so it would always be the Tuesday after the first Monday in November. At that point, elections have been held on dates ranging from November 2nd to November 8th with each date coming up about six times in a regular pattern. The date November 6th has always been a good one for Republicans:

1860 - Abraham Lincoln over Stephen Douglas

1888 - Benjamin Harrison over incumbent Grover Cleveland

1900 - William McKinley over William Jennings Bryan

1928 - Herbert Hoover over Al Smith

1956 - Dwight Eisenhower over Adlai Stevenson

1984 - Ronald Reagan over Walter Mondale

Flash Forward to now..In a week, November 6th, 2012 Mitt v.s Barack. In a presidential grudge match! Will Obama break the streak make history as the first Democrat to win on that date? Talk about real life spooky stuff!