Thought for the Day: Spicing Up the First Tuesday of November

Thought for the Day: Spicing Up the First Tuesday
October 22, 2008

First things first:
Today's theme is "Like it's not already important enough on its own?"

Presenting the 2008 Barker Election Night Challenge
Very simply, like in 2004, it's a two layer game. As with all of my games, this is only for entertainment, please, no wagering.

Layer 1: Predict the Electoral Map
Here, take this map, save it, change the name to include your last name, and start filling it in red for Senator McCain or blue for Senator Obama (or, hey, OK, green for Bob Barr.)

For each state (and colony) you get right, you get that state's (or colony's) electoral vote total. I'll then take the total number of states/colony you have right, divide by 538 and multiply by 50. That will be your point total for the first half.

Layer 2: Prop Bets--Ten simple questions
Please answer each of the following questions. Each question is worth five points.

For Questions 1-5, name the winner of each of these U.S. Senate Races:

1). Minnesota (for Norm Coleman's current seat)
Al Franken (D) vs. Norm Coleman (R) vs. Dean Barkley (Independence)

2). Alaska (for Ted Stevens' current seat)
Mark Begich (D) vs. Ted Stevens (R)

3). North Carolina (for Elizabeth Dole's current seat)
Kay Hagan (D) vs. Elizabeth Dole (R)

4). Georgia (for Saxby Chambliss' current seat)
Jim Martin (D) vs. Saxby Chambliss (R) or Run-Off (Neither Candidate Reaches 50%)

5). Kentucky (for Mitch McConnell's current seat)
Bruce Lunsford (D) vs. Mitch McConnell (R)

For Questions 6-10, answer the following:
6). Will the Democratic Party (counting independents Sanders of Vermont and Lieberman of Connecticut) control more or less than 57.5 seats in the United States Senate in the 111th Congress?

7). Among these four Senators, which one will receive the largest percentage of the popular vote in their state's U.S. Senate race:
Delaware Senator Joe Biden
Iowa Senator Tom Harkin
Massachusetts Senator John Kerry?
Michigan Senator Carl Levin

8). Who will receive a larger percentage of the popular vote in their state's U.S. Senate race:
Virginia Democratic Senate candidate Mark Warner
or
New Mexico Democratic Senate candidate Tom Udall?

9). Will the presidential candidate who wins the electoral vote earn more than 349.5 total electoral votes: Yes or No?

10). Will the Democratic Party control more or less than 251.5 seats in the United States House of Representatives in the 111th Congress?

Assemble in an email the answers to these ten questions, attach your fully colored map (or alternately list the states you have going to each candidates), and email the whole thing to me by Tuesday, November 4, 2008 at 7:00 AM EDT.

As soon as I actually can legitimately call the races, I will, even if I have to use Tim Russert memorial white boards to do the math.

And remember, even if you don't want to play the game, if you can, no matter whom you support, on November 4, get out and vote. The choice is yours.

That's all for today, until next time,
I am Craig Barker, making the horse race a little more exciting.