The General

We’re three days away from primaries in two big states – Texas and right here in Ohio. As we await the results of Tuesday’s voting, let’s take a little time to think ahead to the general election in November.

For starters, especially if you are one of my students at Caterham, remember that the American presidential election involves a complicated concept called the Electoral College. This constitutionally mandated process usually -- but not always...see the 2000 election -- produces the same winner as the candidate that gets the most popular votes cast on Election Day. And, as we remember, each state gets an electoral vote total equal to its number of Senators and Representatives. Hence, each state (and Washington D.C. too,) gets at least three electoral votes.

In beginning to think what the 2008 electoral map might look like, it’s instructive to look back to the 2000 and the 2004 presidential elections. As we know, both elections were extremely close and both were won by Republican George W. Bush – in 2000 over the then Vice President Al Gore, and in 2004 over Massachusetts Senator John Kerry. To get us started, blog readers, think about and get back to me on the following question: How many states switched their electoral allegiance from 2000 to 2004, and which ones were they? We’ll recognize the first correct respondent in the next blog. HINT: There aren’t many. Once we have a good idea of states that appear solidly red (Republican), solidly blue (Democratic), and somewhere in between, we can begin to make some guesses as to what lies ahead in November.