Prediction? . . . Pain! Thanks Clubber Lang!

2004 Electoral Map: 100,000 votes in Ohio decide the election.

With less than a week to go, Tim Carney from the GOP stalwart Evans-Novak Political Report offers his November 4 prediction. And my gut tells me Carney is not far off:

- Foresees an Obama victory, becomes the first African-American President of the United States. Pretty remarkable stuff.

- However, deems talk of a Democratic landslide and an unambiguous political mandate to be ludicrous. Fingers a popular vote total for Obama around 52%.

- As for the electoral college, Carney sees a "big win, but not a Reaganesque one" finding certain battleground states where Obama boasts a small lead now to actually lean towards McCain.

- Carney sees the board playing out in this fashion: Florida, Ohio, Indiana, Missouri, North Dakota, Nevada, Florida and North Carolina to McCain. Colorado, New Hampshire, New Mexico and Virginia to Obama. Final electoral tally? 286 to 252. A close race, but greater than the margin of Bush's victory in 2000 over Gore (271-267) and equal to Bush's defeat of John Kerry in 2004 (286-252). The difference with 2004? Virginia, Colorado, Iowa and New Mexico flipped blue and Obama's massive ground operation in the Mountain West succeeds where John Kerry came up short.

Please comment or email the Potatoe with your predictions. We're getting close!

Oh, picture of Clubber:

If you do not vote, he will "crucify you . . . real bad."

A Grim Karl Rove

Going into the last week of the election, the Architect assesses Senator McCain's path to victory as a "very steep hill to climb."

The Playing Field

Could John McCain's demise be a fait accompli 10 days before the election? The permutations don't bode well: Give him Ohio (20) and Florida (27). Give him North Carolina (15) and even Virginia (13) now leaning towards Obama. Throw in the traditional Republican strongholds of Indiana (11), Montana (3) and North Dakota (3) surprisingly in play. Toss in hotly-contested Nevada (5) and Missouri (11). You know what - I'm feeling generous: Give him New Hampshire (4) because Palin's a Hockey Mom.

Final score: 269-269. A veritable tsunami of GOP support in the final week still doesn't give McCain the victory math. However, in the case of a tie, the 12th Amendment requires the House of Representatives to determine the President-Elect with each state's newly elected delegation casting only one vote. And that means Joe the Rodeo Clown, Joe the Dairy Queen Manager and Joe the Toothless Old Buzzard Whittling Wood And Spittin' Tobacco Juice On The Porch Of The General Store - you know, the three folks comprising the total population of Wyoming - carry equal weight in this doomsday scenario as the 37,000,000 citizens residing in California.

A disquieting thought until you realize that the Democrats currently control 27 state delegations in the House and are expected to make further gains this election. Still, chilling to let your darkest fears for the country creep in to your consciousness. The House debate dedicated to breaking the tie would make the rancor exchanged during the 2000 election fiasco look like a friendly disagreement among gentlemen.

Gateway City Greets Obama

100,000 supporters turnout in St. Louis, Missouri. Obama's response to the outpouring: "wow."

11 electoral votes and the Missouri Bellwether up for grabs: The "Show Me" State has supported the President-Elect since 1904 in all but one election.

Michelle Malkin was seen floating around the crowd, checking identification cards. "We got word that Mickey Mouse was in attendance at ACORN's behest," Malkin sneered. "I'm just protecting the fabric of our democracy."