BrendanLoy.com Electoral College Contest 2008 Signup

Your Name (real name, first & last, strongly preferred) *

Your E-mail Address (required, but will NOT be made public) *

Your location (e.g., City, State)

Your Electoral College map

First, make your electoral college picks using the map below.

Default colors are based on 2004 results. You can select a different "default" using the drop-down menu at right that currently says "User Scenario."

The map does not allow "splitting" Maine and Nebraska. That issue will be addressed in a separate section below.

When you're finished with your map, click the "SHARE" button (in the bottom left corner of the map). Copy the "embed" code, and paste it below: *

Your answer above should end with "</embed></object>." If it doesn't, please try copy & pasting the "embed your scenario" code again.

Then copy the "Link to this scenario" URL, and paste it below: *

Your answer above should end with a long series of 1s and 0s. If it doesn't, please try copy & pasting the "Link to this scenario" URL again.

Maine & Nebraska

Maine and Nebraska allocate their electoral votes differently than other states. Instead of "winner-take-all," each state gives 2 electoral votes to the statewide winner, plus 1 electoral vote to the winner of each congressional district. Maine has 2 congressional districts; Nebraska has 3.

In practice, these states have never actually split their electoral votes. However, it is theoretically possible that they could.

You've already predicted each state's "at-large" winner (in your map above). Now, for the districts:

What Nebraska congressional districts will the statewide loser win? *

None

District 1 (Lincoln & eastern Nebraska)

District 2 (Omaha metro area)

District 3 (rural central & western Nebraska)

What Maine congressional districts will the statewide loser win? *

None

District 1 (southwestern Maine)

District 2 (rural northern & eastern Maine)

Tiebreaker questions

What will Obama's national popular-vote percentage be? (Please round to the nearest tenth of a percent.) *

What will McCain's national popular-vote percentage be? (Please round to the nearest tenth of a percent.) *

FYI - here are the percentages in recent elections, including minor-party candidates with more than 2%:

2004: Bush 50.7, Kerry 48.3

2000: Gore 48.4, Bush 47.9, Nader 2.7

1996: Clinton 49.2, Dole 40.7, Perot 8.4

1992: Clinton 43.0, Bush 37.5, Perot 18.9

1988: Bush 53.4, Dukakis 45.7

1984: Reagan 58.8, Mondale 40.6

1980: Reagan 50.8, Carter 41.0, Anderson 6.6

Which state will have the closest popular-vote margin, percentage-wise? *

How many Senate seats will the Democrats have, including Lieberman and Sanders? (They currently have 51 out of 100.) *

(NOTE: Result will be based on election results only; any post-election party switches will not be considered.)

How many House seats will the Democrats have? (They currently have 235 out of 435.) *

(NOTE: Result will be based on election results only; any post-election party switches will not be considered.)

What will Barack Obama's raw vote total in Colorado be? Please be specific. *

FYI - here are the totals in recent elections:
2004: Bush 1,101,255, Kerry 1,001,732
2000: Bush 883,745, Gore 738,227
1996: Dole 691,848, Clinton 671,152
1992: Clinton 629,681, Bush 562,850, Perot 366,010

Miscellany (optional)

These questions are strictly optional. They're designed to gather a little more information, to make any blog write-ups of the contest more interesting. Answer as many, or as few, as you like.

Whom do you support in the election?

Why?

What partisan affiliation, if any, do you align yourself with?

Where, if anywhere, did/do you go to college? (Or, if you're still in high school, what's your high school?)

How do you know Brendan / his blog, or, how did you find this contest?

Is there anything else -- about yourself, about the election, about your prediction, whatever -- that you'd like to say?

Who will win the BCS national championship?