McCain Uses Superstition, Reagan Used Joan Quigley's Astrology

Posted January 10, 2008 - 8:02am by GL

Newsweek has a weird story today about John McCain and his wife being influenced by superstition. The elements of the McCains' superstition:

- McCain picked up a head-up nickel in New Hampshire the day of the primary, saying, "I need all the luck I can get."

- the lucky nickel kept company in McCain's pocket with a lucky penny and lucky compass that McCain carries.

- McCain was nervous that he had missed seeing a movie (any movie) the afternoon of primary day because he has a 20+ year superstitious tradition of doing so.

- Cindy, his wife, wore her "lucky" color on Monday.

- The McCains spent the night in the same hotel room as they did before his 2000 NH primary win.

- He slept on the same side of the bed in that room as he did in 2000 (given the tenor of the article, it seemed like he did this for superstitious reasons).

Perhaps McCain's life is not ruled to the degree that Ronald Reagan's Presidency was by astrologist Joan Quigley, but how irrational is it to think that change in your pocket and seeing movies affects your election? I realize that some readers, because of culture, might find it plausible to engage in varying degrees of superstitious behavior. But just because something is plausible in a culture doesn't make it rational. It is simply irrational-- silly, really-- to think pocket change affects whether people vote for you.

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Comments

superstition ain't the way

by Jim Keffer - 01/10/2008 - 9:17pm

I've never been run for political office. When I used to be on call as a resident, there were certain superstitions that folks working in hospital held to. As a physician trainee, you want to see patients to learn, but you don't want to be so many that you are overwhelmed.

So, if there weren't many admissions on a given call night, it was forbidden to use the "q word" [quiet] or to in any way refer to the low number of admissions you'd performed. Once your shift was over, you could say any q words you wanted. Some call teams carried around totems [stuffed animals, lucky pens] that were viewed as being helpful to appease the call gods.

It wasn't just residents who exhibited superstitious behavior. One night in the Pediatric ICU, I observed a nurse place the crash cart [with drugs and other equipment to handle codes (critical situations when a patient stops breathing or their heart stops)] between the bed of two patients who were on the edge of coding. When I asked her what she was doing, she replied "warding off evil spirits".

I cringe every time I hear

by Jim (not verified) - 02/07/2008 - 10:54pm

I cringe every time I hear Mccain mention his superstition. He does it so openly. I can't the thought that he's significantly influenced in such a way... and now he's gonna be the Republican candidate for president. Yikes.

Then again there are probably a lot of other politicians who are superstitious too and just don't blather about it.

Still, yikes.

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