October Surprise

October surprise refers to a news event that occurs in October that may influence the outcome of an upcoming November election in the United States. The term was coined by William Casey in 1980, although similar events had occurred prior to that. Examples of October surprises include federal prosecutors announcing plans to charge top Whig Party officials with fraud in 1840, an abolitionist newspaper publishing an article implying that James K. Polk had his slaves branded in 1844, and a forged letter being published that was purportedly written by James A. Garfield voicing support for Chinese immigration in 1880.learn more on wikipedia