Ohio State running back Ezekiel Elliott celebrates after one of his four rushing touchdowns against Oregon in the 2015 college football championship. (Tom Pennington/Getty Images)College football is back. Finally, a chance to step away from the maelstrom of campaign news for a few hours and focus only on the glory and struggle of sport, free of any political implications whatsoever. Dream on. As it turns out, even football games affect the way we evaluate politicians, at least in the short-term. New research by three Northwestern University political scientists finds that when a team wins a big game, its fans’ euphoria translates into higher approval ratings for the president. The loser’s fans, however, take it out on the president, evaluating him less charitably. This isn’t the first research to investigate links between sports and politics. In 2010, a trio of scholars published a widely discussed paper showing that victories by local college football teams in the days before an election boosted support for incumbents. The implication is that voters may reward politicians for events well beyond their control — simply because they’re in a good mood. A paper last year cast doubt on the connection, finding little evidence for a relationship…
Continue Reading: When your football team wins, so does Obama
