People named Sandy more likely to give to Obama

Is the National Hurricane Center secretly a puppet of the Obama administration?

People named Sandy are considerably more likely to have donated to President Obama than to Mitt Romney or another Republican primary candidate this year, according to a recent Yahoo News analysis of FEC records. Of the 353 Sandys who gave at least $200 this cycle, 73 percent gave to Obama. The amount they gave is slightly more equitable, but still favors the president: $134,936 to Obama, $101,172 to Romney et al.

A casual survey of recent notable storms turns up an insidious pattern. People named Irene also gave to Obama about three times as often, as did Katrina (80 percent), Rita (69 percent), Frances (70 percent) and Andrew (54 percent).

Tropical Storm Bret, which last struck in 2011, and Tropical Storm Van, which is in next year's lineup, are the two most Republican storms.

The World Meteorological Organization is the current steward of the hurricane name list, which originated with the National Hurricane Center. The list of names repeats every six years, but names are retired if they are associated with particularly devastating storms. Below is a special edition of the Yahoo News name game populated by default with hurricane and tropical storm names past and present.