Making American Great Again? Trump Wins In A Landslinde...With Bobbleheads
With precincts reporting from the North, South, Mid-Atlantic, and Midwest, it appears Donald Trump is the clear cut favorite to win the November election. More scientific than the Rasmussen Poll, more accurate than the Economist/YouGov poll and more respected than the Quinnipiac Poll, the Goldklang Group Bobblection, which began with the 2004 battle between George W. Bush and John Kerry, captures the true pulse of the nation through unique polling: bobbleheads.
As fans entered the gates of the three Goldklang Group teams: St. Paul (MN) Saints, Charleston (SC) RiverDogs and Hudson Valley (NY) Renegades they were asked to choose between a Hillary Clinton bobblehead or a Donald Trump bobblehead, which would count as their “vote.” In all three ballparks Trump was the overwhelming winner.
On August 23 the RiverDogs and Renegades set the tone with Trump taking 62% and 65% of the votes, respectively. In Charleston fans were given a third “party” choice, as 1% entered to win a trip out of the country with one “lucky” winner receiving a one way trip to Canada. While the race was a little closer in St. Paul, Trump was still the decisive winner on August 25 receiving 55% of the votes. While most of the national polls show Clinton with a lead, the Bobblection bump could be enough to carry Trump to a HUUUGE victory in November.
When asked about his level of confidence that Bobbleection 2016 would follow in the footsteps of previous Group-wide accuracy in predicting the nation’s next commander-in-chief, Group president Jeff Goldklang responded, “Our fans have spoken. There are clearly two options with no choice, and they believe Trump will prevail in this historic race to the bottom of America’s political party system.”
Originally started in 2004 by the Goldklang Group, the one of a kind Bobblection was an accurate predictor of two incredibly close Presidential Races. Back in 2004, the promotion gained national recognition as George W. Bush took four of seven states to win the first ever Bobblection, with CNN broadcasting results live from the swing state of Florida at Hammond Stadium, home of the Ft. Myers Miracle. The network missed the closest race, which took place at Midway Stadium where John Kerry edged George Bush by just 17 bobbleheads. Three months before the actual election and with exit polls showing the race too close to call, the Goldklang Bobblection got it right.
The trend continued in 2008 with a clean sweep by Barack Obama over John McCain. Though there were some close races in New York and Brockton (MA), the soon to be president-elect was the most popular candidate by a wide margin in ballparks from South Carolina to South Dakota and especially here in St. Paul, winning by the second largest margin at Midway Stadium.
In 2012, the vote of the baseball population differed from that of the American people. Deciding between the Republican nominee Mitt Romney and incumbent President Barack Obama, fans of 10 different teams voted for the former Massachusetts governor to be the next occupant of the Oval Office. While some teams like the Hickory Crawdad’s (NC) gave Romney an overwhelming nod (he won by 14 percentage points), swing states like Florida illustrated how close the election would be, with Obama narrowly winning the vote of the Fort Myers faithful by 0.4 percent.
The Bobblection has become so popular other teams from around the country are taking part this season. In Lincoln, NE the Saltdogs fans spoke to the tune of 66% of the vote for Trump and 35% for Clinton on August 23. The Miracle continued the trend on August 25 when Trump took 60%, with Clinton grabbing 29% and a third option, local DJ’s Stan and Haney, getting 11% of the votes. Mahoning Valley (OH) Scrappers go to the polls on August 27 with the Lakewood (NJ) BlueClaws and Hickory (NC) Crawdads rounding it out on September 1 and 2, respectively.
Each team received 500 of each candidate, with the exception of St. Paul who had 750 Clinton and Trump bobbleheads, and the first candidate to have all their bobbleheads selected was declared the winner.
GOLDKLANG GROUP
The Goldklang Group is a sports entertainment consulting and management firm. The Group provides operational consulting and management services in all areas relating to sports franchise, event, and venue acquisition, promotion and operation. The Group owns three teams: St. Paul Saints, Single-A Charleston RiverDogs (New York Yankees) and Low-A Hudson Valley Renegades (Tampa Rays).
