Wear a rubber mask of President Bush, sure to send shivers down the spines of your left-leaning friends. Or frighten the Republicans in your life with a latex mug of Bush's Democratic challenger, John Kerry.
"They're both scary," said Rick Gallegos, 24, shopping this week at the crowded Costume Closet in Salt Lake City, where political costumes are suddenly fashionable - a trend that spikes every four years as Halloween coincides with the presidential election.
Some retailers say they can even predict the winner of the presidential race by tracking sales of the candidates' Halloween masks. If that's true, John Kerry is in trouble.
Sales of Kerry masks trail those of Bush masks 54 to 46 percent on buycostumes.com, the largest online retailer of Halloween costumes. Until recently, the company also polled manufacturers and large stores to track the historic popularity of political masks. According to its Web site, the candidate with the top-selling Halloween mask has won every presidential election since 1980 (although Bush, who outsold Al Gore in 2000, did lose the popular vote).
Echoing this admittedly unscientific trend are recent sales figures at Salt Lake City's Costume Closet, which has sold 15 Bush masks this month to just five of Kerry. But manager Lili Seely says the figures are misleading because her store is virtually sold out of Kerry masks. The store ordered only six Kerrys to begin with, and the last one was lost in the pre-Halloween bedlam until Monday, when it turned up in a corner.
"It probably was buried under something," Seely said. "As you can see, it's chaos around here."
The most common Bush and Kerry masks cover the wearer's entire head and sell for about $20. The Bush one is a vague likeness; the hair is too gray and the ears don't stick out enough. The Kerry mask, with its droopy eyes, long face and lantern jaw, is more recognizable.
Apparently, the powers of incumbency carry over to the world of costumes, where most of the Bush family - including first lady Laura, former President George H. W. Bush and his wife Barbara - are immortalized in latex. No Teresa Heinz Kerry masks are available - yet.
This may be a coincidence, but the Costume Closet displays masks of political figures next to its masks of pro wrestlers. Also on sale are rubbery versions of Bill and Hillary Clinton, Ronald Reagan, Dick Cheney, Richard Nixon and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Of course, there's no way of knowing whether people who dress up as, say, President Bush are doing so to honor or mock him. Dan Haight, CEO of buycostumes.com, says his customers have customized candidate masks with devil horns or Frankenstein bolts.
With only days until Tuesday's election, expect to see some Bushes and Kerrys working the Halloween parties this weekend. Most Halloween revelers, however, will opt for less partisan duds.
"No political costumes for me," said Gallegos, leaving the Costume Closet on Monday with his family. "I'm going to be a gorilla in a tutu."
griggs@sltrib.com
