Halloween 2012: 5 Political Costume Ideas

Political costumes always have been a staple of Halloween. While Halloween masks are thought to have evolved from Celtic times, when masks were worn on the pagan holiday Samhain to chase away wrathful spirits, now they’re pretty much used just to scare off people of the opposite sex.

Here, then, are five topical, political costume ideas for this pre-election Halloween that should at least make your friends laugh.

Menacing Josh Romney: Halloween revelers are so often forced to choose between a potentially humorous costume and a frightening one. But if you go as Mitt Romney’s terrifyingly serious son, Josh, you won’t have to make that tough decision. Just take your pick from the plethora of Josh Romney memes floating around the Internet and make your own menacing mask, because really, what’s more menacing than menacing Josh Romney?

Paul Ryan Pumping Iron: All you need is some free weights, a red baseball cap, gym shorts, sneakers and a T-shirt (if you have none of these items so far, this costume probably isn’t for you anyway) and the will to get totally shredded. Brownie points if you have the biceps to pull this off in Ryanesque fashion.

Binders Filled With Women: This costume pretty much makes itself. Well, not literally. You will still either need to construct a large binder for yourself and cut out armholes, or (less effectively) try to somehow fashion a binder into something you can wear. Either way, Mitt Romney’s now-legendary flub during the second debate pretty much makes this a guaranteed party hit.

Ann Romney and Rafalca: Thinking of the perfect couple’s costume? Prepared to embarrass and potentially demoralize your partner/spouse/friend/or even a pet by making them wear a silly horse hat? Then this costume might be for you. Ann Romney and her fancy dance horse Rafalca made headlines this summer when the latter competed in the Olympics, in an apparently well-recognized horse dancing sport known as “dressage.” If you can’t get your partner to agree to wear a horse head, consider going solo and bringing a hobby horse.

Fired Big Bird: Fairly self-explanatory. You WILL need a Big Bird costume for this one (or else, a lot of feathers that may prove difficult to remove.) Fortunately, Big Bird is one of the hottest-selling Halloween costumes this year; so get ‘em while they’re hot.