There’s no better day than Friday the 13th to venture into the occult, so your clairvoyant friends at the upstanding U.Va. Center for Politics just couldn’t resist: we had to share the latest results of our Crystal Ball gazing with you today. And what a freaky election we spy in the not-so-far-off future!
Towering, larger-than-life political figures loom over the 2008 presidential landscape as we approach the nine-month mark before Iowans trudge through the snow to their precinct caucuses and kick off a mad dash for convention delegates. And while we political analysts gaze into our crystal balls each day to try to make sense of it all, the contenders gaze into their crystal mirrors each morning and see the 44th President of the United States.
But the true mirror images of the spectacular race for Leader of the Free World in 2008 may not be images of each candidate, but rather each field. As expected, the lack of an incumbent president or vice president in contention for the first time since 1928* has spawned free-for-alls in both parties, not to mention limitless entertainment for political junkies. Furthermore, it’s possible that for the first time since 1928–when the Democrats nominated a Catholic for president and the GOP nominated a Native American for vice president–both tickets will break racial or religious barriers in the same year.