As the U.S. presidential election approaches, many unusual prediction methods have emerged. Among them is Busken Bakery, a family-owned business in Ohio that has been baking for nearly a century. The bakery is once again forecasting election results by tracking sales of cookies decorated with the faces of presidential candidates.
Dan Busken, the president and CEO of Busken Bakery, explained, “We have been conducting a cookie poll for 40 years.” He noted that the bakery has successfully predicted the election winner in nine out of ten elections during that time. The only year they missed was in 2020, when Joe Biden won, though some Trump supporters argue the bakery’s prediction was accurate.
As of November 1, the cookie poll shows Donald Trump leading with 30,943 cookies sold, while Kamala Harris has 11,960. An independent candidate, represented by a yellow smiley face, has garnered 2,159 sales.
However, Busken has expressed concerns about this year’s results. He attributes this to a recent social media boost from billionaire Elon Musk. “After Elon retweeted an article about our cookie poll, we started shipping Trump cookies in large quantities across the country. That tweet might have skewed the results more than in previous years,” Busken said.
Despite the uncertainty, he remains positive about the increased cookie sales. “As the owner, I’m happy. Sales are up, and that’s exciting, regardless of which candidate people are supporting.”
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