How Halloween, the Election and the World Series Seem to Come Together

Does Halloween seem to be overshadowed by the election and the World Series?  There seems to be more media hype over these two events.  There seems to be more in papers and TV news about who will be the next president, and (in local, regional and state elections) who will be the next mayor, councilman, etc.  And everyone has been wondering which teams will make it into the world Series this year.  A few media spots about what the hottest costume this year will be might turn up might turn up on some news outlet, but that's not likely to happen until just a few days before the holiday.  All month long there has been news on the election, though that news begins even earlier than October.  Yes, it's true that the World Series always airs around this time of year and the elections are always on the first Tuesday in November.  But when it's a presidential election year, the election is what dominates the media and overshadows most other events.

Go around your neighborhood--do you see more political signs or Halloween decorations?  Or an equal number of each?  After heading to the Quik Stop across the street to grab the paper on Saturday,  I took a quick stroll up the road and passed by a few nearby houses, seeing a few political signs (for my town's local election) and some Halloween decorations, which in this particular region, seemed to be equal in number.  This was as far as I was able to go that day.  A few house in the same area had no Halloween stuff and no election signs.

A neighborhood tree covered with
fake spider webs.

Sign for a local mayoral candidate.

Sign for local school board

Mailbox at the same house as the tree withthe fake spiderwebs.

Not to put down those looking forward to the baseball games, but I don't watch sports.  And yes, I plan to vote like a good american, but I don't need t hear all the debates live.  I could not sit in front of the TV all night for this. I'll just watch the news later and hear the recaps.  That pretty much says all I need to know.  The last debate airs tonight and then around Wednesday, all the popular TV shows begin airing Halloween episodes.  Ironically, even though Halloween is next Wednesday, the ABC Wednesday lineup airs their Halloween episodes this Wednesday (the 24th).  It stands to reason that such episodes don't often air until just before Halloween. The last three years the annual "Simpsons Treehouse of Horror" episodes have been airing in October.  For most of the last decade, they would not air until November, because of Fox's baseball coverage. And the World Series begins Wednesday the 24th  on Fox as well.  What will you be watching?

A scene from a local bar Halloween celebration last year. 

If you go to a Halloween celebration at a local bar or club, chances are they will be watching the Series on the TV screens that hover all over the bar.  One such bar in my town, which does karaoke every Thursday and Friday, always has a Halloween celebration every year, usually on on the Friday before the holiday.  And yes, they always have the screens tuned into the what ever major game is playing that night.  The karaoke doesn't start until 9PM, since most games are over by then.   There won't be a baseball game this Friday, however, when they have their annual Halloween celebration.  I will be there as always and am curious to see what my karaoke friend and our favorite bartender will be dressed as.

Speaking of which, does anyone plan on being their favored presidential candidate for Halloween? A whole section the nearby Halloween City store was devoted to masks of each of the current presidential candidates and their running mates.  During the 2008 election, it was believed that Sarah Palin was going to be a popular costume, but I did not see one person in this disguise.  People in my town never seem to wear the popular disguises.  No Michael Jacksons or Oxi Clean Guys were spotted in 2009 and no Lady Gagas in any of the last three years or so.   This article from ABC News gives a list of possible election-inspired

Source: coolest-homemade-costumes.com via Jamie on Pinterest

costumes.  Yeah,  I suspect Big Bird might be popular after the presidential debate, but Workout Paul Ryan?  Would anyone even guess that that is who you're supposed to be?  If you're not inclined to be a candidate, try being a Ballot Box  (see photo above) or making a costume out of sample ballots, getting some use out of these things before they go into the recycle bin.

Is the World Series a costume-inspiring event as well?  Doesn't seem likely since it often begins just before Halloween and that would meaning coming up with something in just a week or at the very last minute.  Because the teams are not determined until the last playoff game, you're probably not going to find a pre-made costume at the Halloween stores of any baseball player.  But if you tried, I'm sure you could pull something like this off in only a week.

Whatever you will be doing, wearing and watching over the next weeks, the important thing is to have fun.   And don't forget to vote on November 6.