(AP) No votes have been cast for president yet. But the Kreskin primary is over.

George Kresge Jr., better known as The Amazing Kreskin, wrote the name of his choice to win next year's election, had a rabbi sign the paper and dropped it into a locked box on Thursday.

Kreskin says he didn't want to make a presidential prediction. But the name of the winner came to him three months ago and wouldn't leave him alone. So he came up with the scheme to write it down and lock it away.

"If I can remain impartial at least by putting it away, sealing it, having someone witness what I wrote, then I can at least get the credit. Because I really think I hit it," the 72-year-old mentalist said.

He left the box for safekeeping on a shelf above the bar at the World Bar, across the street from the United Nations.

Just in case that's not secure enough, Kreskin's giving a copy to Joey Reynolds, a talk show host on a New York radio station, WOR-AM.

Kreskin makes his living performing mind-reading tricks for hundreds of audiences a year.

News organizations sometimes ask him for news predictions around New Year's, but this is the first time he's ever forecast a presidential election. He says anyone can do it.

"But you can't do it from your own political position," he said. "You gotta step away."

Not that he's infallible. Kreskin's Web site notes that in October, he predicted the New York Yankees would not abandon their manager, Joe Torre.

The forecast "may have been clouded by my own wishful thinking," he writes.

By Warren Levinson © MMVII The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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