"There's an old saying in Tennessee - I know it's in Texas, it's probably in Tennessee - that says, fool me once, shame on ... shame on you. It fool me. We can't get fooled again." -- G-Dub.

Okay the first part of the great election predictor. This is the third election predictor I've done and I hit 49+D.C out of 50 in 1996 (Called on Dole to win Florida, he didn't) and 48+D.C. out of 50 in 2000 (called on Gore to win Florida and Tennessee, he didn't).

Now we're going to break this down into three parts: The Money Pot, The Bank Account and the Toss Ups.

The Money Pot means this is what each candidate has in the bank, these are the "blue" and "red" states. That whole big chunk of farm land out west where no one lives (Wyoming, Montana, a couple of Dakotas, and Idaho) are Bush places while the Northeast vacant states (Maine, Delaware, Vermont) are Kerry places. Simple enough? Here we go.

Red States Where No One Lives:
Alaska = 3 votes
North Dakota = 3 votes
South Dakota = 3 votes
Montana = 3 votes
Wyoming = 3 votes
Idaho = 4 votes
Utah = 5 votes
Kansas = 6 votes
Oklahoma = 7 votes
Nebraska = 5 votes
Total Electoral Votes: 42 votes. Basically about two votes per every 250,000 square miles.

Blue States Where No One Lives:
Maine = 4 votes
Rhode Island = 4 votes
Delaware = 3 votes
Vermont = 3 votes
Connecticut = 7 votes
Washington D.C. = 3 votes
Total Electoral Votes: 24 votes. Basically 2 votes per every three city blocks.

And that's the end of part 1. It's not very exciting I know, but it's a necessary evil and none of these states are even worth the time of breaking them down. And these are places that don't get a politcal rally, a visit, a commercial, nothing. They are basically complementary states -- each candidate gets a pull toy with a purchase of $20 or more.