• Barack Obama,  Electoral College,  Mitt Romney,  President 2012

    The Electoral College: State of the Presidential Race

    October 24, 2012 /

    Romney State of the Race October 23 2012 The Morning Flap: October 23, 2012

    From 270towin.com

    The above graphic is how the Presidential race will turn out in the Electoral College on November the 6th. I have Mitt Romney defeating President Obama 271 Electoral Votes vs. 261 Electoral Votes.

    Most notable recent changes I have made have been the loss of Ohio to the President and the pick up of Colorado for Romney.

    Here is my Electoral College map I made after Mitt Romney chose Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin for his Vice President running mate.

     Electoral College August 11 2012 Does Paul Ryan Help Mitt Romney in the Electoral College?

    From 270towin.com

    To say the least, the race is tight.

    Mitt Romney continues to make a play for Nevada and I understand as of yesterday, he made a very large television ad buy in Northern Nevada – the Reno market.

    Recent polling by Rasmussen and Gallup have Ohio all tied up – well within the margins of error. Ohio could go either way. I think Obama now needs Ohio more than Romney in order to win, which goes against the maxim that GOP Presidential wins go through Ohio.

    Stay tuned as more polls roll in throughout the next few days.

    However, I think, my first map with a 271 Electoral College Vote win for Romney will probably be the end result.

  • Electoral College,  President 2012

    President 2012: The Electoral College Map

    April 21, 2011 /

    Electoral College vote map of Larry Sabato

    Larry Sabato, Director of the Univwersity of Virginia Center for Politics is out today with his map of the key battleground states for the Presidential race of 2012.

    With 18 months to go until November 2012, there is exactly one use for a current projection of the 2012 Electoral College results. This is merely a baseline from which we can judge more reliable projections made closer to the election. Where did we start–before we knew the identity of the Republican nominee for president, the state of the economy in fall 2012 and many other critical facts?

    Sabato’s map is pretty much the conventional wisdom which I wrote about previously. And, even previously here.

    I think we can say that from this poll that these states:

    • Ohio – 20 (electoral votes): -2 after reapportionment
    • Virginia – 13
    • Colorado – 9
    • Florida -27: +2 after reapportionment
    • Nevada – 5: +1 after reapportionment
    • Wisconsin -10
    • New Hampshire – 4
    • Indiana – 11
    • North Carolina – 15

    and add in Pennyslvania -20: -1 after reapportionment – will be in the competitive range, if the GOP nominates the RIGHT candidate.

    If all of the key battleground states listed above were to flip to the Republican candidate a total of 135 electoral votes would shift. The GOP candidate would win 305 Electoral votes Vs. 230 for Obama (provided Obama wins all of the states he won in 2008). 270 votes are needed to win.

    But, let’s look at Sabato’s numbers:

    If you INCLUDE the “Leans” states with the “Likely” and “Safe,” the numbers are as follows:

    •     247 Democratic EVs
    •     180 Republican EVs
    •     111 Undecided

    If you DO NOT INCLUDE the “Leans” states, i.e., just counting “Likely” and “Safe,” the numbers are as follows:

    •     196 Democratic EVs
    •     170 Republican EVs
    •     172 Undecided

    The only disagreements I have with Sabato are his assessments of Iowa, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. Those states may be in play and if I had to pick one it would be Wisconsin.

    Which states do I think will be the hardest fought?

    • Colorado, Virginia, Florida and North Carolina

    Which state will most likely flip to the GOP?

    • Indiana

    So, there you have the Presidential race in a nutshell.

    The race will be concentrated in only a few states, where except for Florida the media buys will be fairly inexpensive. So, all of this talk about President Obama and his $1 Billion campaign is a lot of hot air. The GOP nominee will not need to raise as much to be competitive in the key battleground states.

    But, organization is key and if the GOP wants to win, they must select a nominee who will be competitive in these few states. Looks to me that Mitt Romney, Mitch Daniels, Mike Huckabee will fit the bill. The others – not so much.

    But, stay tuned……