By James F. Hale

Predicting the outcome of elections has always been a challenge for pollsters, some have been accurate while other outcomes were unanticipated. I doubt many today recall a front-page 1948 headline in the Chicago Daily Tribune that announced DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN.

Not too many years ago, a cookie poll was conducted at the Grove City Welcome Center and Museum. My wife, Linda and daughter Mary Anne, wanted to host a special event for the upcoming election in the 1990s and spent an entire afternoon baking and decorating many dozens of cookies.

They were not the normal round shaped treats. They were made from molds that created a Republican elephant and a Democratic donkey colored with red, white and blue icing.

Museum visitors could select their treat according to party preference and by the end of the day all cookies had been consumed. There were none left over so it was impossible to determine the upcoming election outcome. It must be assumed party preference wasn’t a particular concern; visitors just wanted a tasty treat and party affiliation didn’t matter.