FYI America UPDATED

Below you can read various predictions for the winner of the 2012 US elections, including everything from 7-11’s surprisingly accurate coffee cup predictions to the predictions from the University of Colorado’s sophisticated system for predicting electoral college results, which has also been uncannily accurate. Or you can go for the live results by setting up a Google alert to receive election updates “as it happens” here: http://www.google.com/alerts

Projections for the Presidential Winner:

Want to know who’s going to win in the 2012 presidential election? Maybe you should stay home on Halloween night and count the Obama and Romney masks. Don’t scoff. Halloween mask sales have accurately predicted the winners of the US presidential elections since 1996. Sales to date from Spirit Halloween, the largest seasonal Halloween retailer in the US, have Obama at 60% and Romney at 40%. Update: as of November 2, 2012 the important state of Ohio has both candidates tied at 49%.

According to 7-11’s 7-Election Results, in which customers weigh in by choosing a red coffee cup for Romney or a blue coffee cup for Obama, Obama is leads Romney 60-40. In the last two Presidential elections, 7-11’s results were on the money. See how your state’s doing here: http://www.7-eleven.com/7-election/?gclid=CKnmuZ7el7MCFahQOgodUi8AYg.

Political science professors Kenneth Bickers of CU-Boulder and Michael Berry of CU Denver developed a highly accurate Electoral College model for predicting elections, which they used to retroactively predict every presidential win since 1980. University of Colorado’s election forecasting model as of October 4, 2012 points to a Romney win.

If you want to go the more traditional route, National polling firm Rasmussen has President Barack Obama only slightly ahead in electoral votes. Their map gives 237 electoral votes to Obama and 235 to Romney, but 66 votes remain. Get more info here: http://www.rasmussenreports.com/

If you don’t like the predictions above you can console yourself with the knowledge that everything in this election, including the predictions, can change with just one small slip-up from either candidate. Either way, make plans to vote in this election.

Update on Zazzle sales:
Of the top 100 Best-Selling products (T-shirts, bumper stickers, etc.) on Zazzle.com today, 29 were pro-Romney or anti-Obama. And only nine of the top 100 best-sellers were pro-Obama or anti-Romney. If you’re of the latter persuasion, amuse yourself here: http://www.zazzle.com/vicesandverses/gifts?cg=196753896658368232&rf=238442966030411425&CMPN=zBookmarklet
Or here: http://www.zazzle.com/anti-romney+gifts?rf=238442966030411425&CMPN=zBookmarklet

If you’re for Romney, remember election day is November 13.