Sometimes, as in the case of the Inauguration of William Henry Harrison, weather can change the course of history even after the election itself. Every school child knows the story of President William Henry Harrison who refused to wear a coat, a hat nor gloves on March 4th, 1841 when he delivered the longest Inaugural Address in history being 8,845 words. It was a cold, windy day with temperatures in the 40s while he stood there speaking without his coat... or hat... or gloves for over an hour and a half. He caught a cold, which turned into pneumonia and he promptly died 32 days later going down in history as the shortest term a President has served and being a lesson to children and future Presidents everywhere to wear your coat on cold windy days.
I suppose he might have gotten sick anyway from some random germs, but would the cold have turned into pneumonia? Who can say for sure... either way he died and since then our Presidents wear handsome coats and give somewhat shorter speeches and Harrison becomes relegated to a trivia question in history often.
Whose to say that had it been a wet, rainy day with gusty winds in Dallas in November of 1963 that JFK would have kept the top up rather than put the top down in the convertible and he might have served his full term as well as changed history? Very possible or at least the assassination attempt would have been tried somewhere else and either way history would have been changed had it been a stormy day in Dallas not a sunny one. They might have put on the bubble top that was often used or they may have put the top up, either way we will never know for sure because it was sunny with bright blue skies in Dallas that day in 1963.
http://www.jfklibrary.org/JFK/JFK-in-History/November-22-1963-Death-of-the-President.aspx
Weather changes everything, that's for sure. Studies have been done to show this and most studies show that bad weather on election day helps Republicans in any given race. That might be debated and it could be brought down to economic factors by some who might say that people who can't afford a nice car need to take the bus or walk in bad weather on election day might not go out to vote whereas a person with a nice, shiny, new car will not have a problem voting. That works only mind you ....if you think all Republicans are rich or maybe it's just that republicans like being out in the rain or snow?? Who's to say for sure?
The one thing we do know is that if a candidate has a campaign event outside and the weather is cold and windy he is less likely to get people to go out and check out his event and see him or her in person. A nice sunny day and the thought of going to hear Santorum, Romney or Newt becomes a much more doable idea.
Say a young mother wants to see the candidate for herself, in her home town...up close and personal. Is she really going to dress the baby in a snow suit, put on her boots and drag the baby out for a photo op or will she wait for another day, or another candidate or until the baby is a little older or possibly get a babysitter and leave the baby at home. A doable day out suddenly becomes a chore that can be ignored on a windy, snowy day.
This blog will follow, among other things, the day to day weather during the Republican Primaries and the weather down the line in the actual Presidential Election.
For instance, Rick Santorum will be appearing on Wednesday, January 25 at 9:00 AM in Naples Florida. The weather will be warm and sunny, go and enjoy...take the camera, take the baby, ask some questions.
Location:
First Baptist Church
3000 Orange Blossom Drive
Naples, FL 34109
For instance as I type this Newt Gingrich is standing outside, in beautiful weather, live on CNN in Tampa, Florida speaking to a crowd of people who obviously would not be standing there if it was thundering or threatening to rain. There are a lot of young people, old people, standing around watching Newt speak live becoming a part of this great election process by attending outdoor rallies.
If you want to attend an event for Newt Gingrich on Tuesday in Sarasota the weather should be good.
http://sarasotagop.ticketbud.com/newtgingrich
If you want to see Mitt Romney speak somewhere in person in Florida you can call 813-490-2626 and try to get a list of his campaign appearances. There are no specific appearances mentioned on their website, which is odd I think though he has invested a lot of money or as we say in Miami "dinero" in television advertisements that can be shown rain or shine and he seems to show up unannounced often around the State. I will update this with more information later, I called the number listed above but alas...the mail box was full. It shouldn't be this hard to find out where Mitt is appearing, but then again his commercials are playing pretty regularly.
Obviously, money talks in elections as much as the weather does and Rick Santorum is using Twitter to publicize his many events around the state.
Ron Paul events are also hard to find online, though he is working the young crowd on Facebook trying to bring his own libertarian brand of change to the Republican Party. http://floridaronpaulevents.com/event-details-other-info/
If only politicians could control the weather on election day....they might be able to control the outcome. But, since Lex Luthor has not been able to do so yet... we are probably safe from any weather tampering come election day!
I can tell one thing... the people in Alabama today are not watching the weather in Florida as they have a death toll that is climbing and many cities are without electricity, telephone or cable. Now...if that was to happen on the day of a primary in their state... it could possibly make a difference in the outcome.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2090634/At-people-dead-thousands-power-storms-rage-South.html
In a year when the difference of winning and losing in Iowa was less than 35 people, it is a reminder that every vote counts. Perhaps had a few republicans decided to get a babysitter and go out into the cold Iowa evening and vote for Mitt Romney, he might have really won that election.
Weather changes everything...
This blog will cover the weather and how it might possibly effect this election. Feel free to send me information as to upcoming campaign events or with regard to the weather on your own election day. Either way... if you are worried weather might be a factor, make sure you apply for an absentee ballot as just as weather changes everything... your own vote can change everything as well!!
Besos Bobbi
Study done on the correlation between bad weather and voter turn out.
http://myweb.fsu.edu/bgomez/GomezHansfordKrause_JOP_2007.pdf
http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_politics/2012/01/florida-presidential-campaign-heating-up-santorum-in-lady-lake.html
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