Round 1 of the Atlas President Forever Championship

[Gabu]

(Darn, I really wanted to win Colorado )

Out of curiosity, why is that?

[Gabu]

δ bracket, Game 1: Gabu (Lucas Longley) vs. TheWildCard (Michael R. Lanay)

And now, the moment I've all been waiting for...

The election started out tilted towards Lanay.  Wisconsin, New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Maryland were in Longley's column.  California, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Iowa, Illinois, Michigan, and Delaware were tied.  The rest were in Lanay's column.  After the usual initial shift, California and Iowa were with Lanay, while Oregon, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, Vermont, and Maine were tied.

A week went by, and the country had shifted again.  Washington was now tied, as was West Virginia, North Carolina, New Jersey, and Connecticut.  Oregon was back with Lanay.  Longley opened leads in Nevada, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Alabama, and Florida.  Texas was now tied.  For the first time in the campaign, neither candidate had enough states to win the election.

Another week went by, and Longley was now up in Texas, but Alabama was back to tied and Lanay was up again in Washington.  Colorado, Missouri, and Arkansas were now tied.  Lanay won the first debate, giving him some very welcome momentum.  Lanay "triumph[ed]" in the second debate, but concurrent with that, a scandal broke on Lanay, cancelling out any effect that his triumph in the second debate might have brought.

The scandal worsened in its second debate, and polls showed Longley leads in Virginia and North Carolina, although Lanay leads in Massachusetts, Vermont, and New Hampshire gave him enough states to win with two weeks left in the campaign.  Lanay won the third debate, news that the Longley campaign expected, but were nevertheless unhappy about.  With a week left in the campaign, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Colorado were tied, but Lanay was ahead in Pennsylvania, putting him currently at 282 electoral votes - just enough to win.

Another mid-sized scandal hit Lanay a week before election day, a fact which was not what Lanay was hoping to encounter.  A day before the election, Longley was up in Pennsylvania and Washington was tied.  If Longley could win every tossup state - Washington, Arizona, Colorado, West Virginia, and Maryland - or if he could win some of those while picking of Lanay's marginals, he could still win this election.

Election Day came.  Indiana and Kentucky went for Lanay, giving Lanay the typical Republican boost at the beginning.  Florida went for Longley, but Georgia stayed with Lanay, as did New Hampshire and South Carolina.  Vermont went with Longley and so did Virginia.  North Carolina went for Longley, but Ohio fell into Lanay's column, as did West Virginia by a margin of only 0.5% - a defeat for Longley that might spell doom for Longley's campaign unless the election turned around at a later date.

Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, and Maine all went for Longley.  Maryland voted for Longley by a margin of 0.9%, a big win for Longley, which gave him hope that he might still be in this race.  Massachusetts, unfortunately, then voted for Lanay, which caused Longley to lose hope.  Michigan gave Longley its electoral votes, while Mississippi and Missouri went for Lanay.  New Jersey and Oklahoma voted for Lanay while Pennsylvania and Rhode Island stayed with Longley.  Tennessee was Lanay's, while Texas and DC went with Longley.  Arkansas, expectedly, voted for Lanay, as did Alabama.  Arizona voted for Lanay, and Longley sunk further into expected defeat.  Colorado went with Longley, while Kansas went with Lanay.

Louisiana and Minnesota voted for Lanay, as did Nebraska and New Mexico.  New York stayed with Longley.  The Dakotas went for Lanay, while Wisconsin went for Longley.  The Mormon Triangle expectedly voted for Lanay, as did Montana.  Iowa and Nevada voted for Longley.  California stood out as Longley's last hope.  If he could carry California despite it being Lanay's home state, he would win the election.

It was not to be.  California went with Lanay by a sizeable amount, giving him 54% of the vote.  Hawaii went with Longley, but Oregon put Lanay over the top.  To add insult to injury, Longley's own home state of Washington also voted for Lanay.



Lanay/Longwell: 290 EVs - 49% PV - 61,449,932 votes
Longley/Warner: 248 EVs - 49% PV - 61,325,901 votes

[Sam Spade]

Well, Richardson couldn't help me get New Mexico, but I'm glad to see both Alabama and Texas go my way.  

[Gabu]

α bracket, Game 3: Max Power (Max Power) vs. Bacon King (Joseph Stalin)

The election started out balanced.  The Pacific and most of New England, save for New Jersey, was either tied for leaning towards Reese.  Illinois, Colorado, Mississippi, North Carolina, and Florida were also in Reese's column.  Arizona, Oklahoma, Texas, Missouri, Louisiana, West Virginia, Maryland, Wisconsin, and Michigan were tied.  The rest was with Stalin.

After the usual weekly shift, California was tied along with Alabama, while Texas, Georgia, and West Virginia were now with Reese.  Another week passed and Reese regained the lead in California, while Stalin regained the lead in Georgia.  Arkansas became tied.

In the middle of the next week, a huge scandal rocked the Reese campaign.  Fortunately for Reese, he spun it down quickly enough for it to lose any effect it might have had.  Still, it did a little damage, enabling Stalin to establish leads in Arkansas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, North Carolina, Virginia, and Oregon.

The first debate came, and Stalin won it in a walk, giving his campaign a lot of momentum.  Stalin gained leads in Alabama and Iowa and brought Florida, Tennessee, Hawaii, Illinois, and New York to a tie.  The next debate was a draw, making it a wash.  By the next week, Reese was again ahead in New York, Illinois, Tennessee, and Florida, although Hawaii was still tied.

The third debate was won by Reese, giving him some momentum against Stalin.  Reese obtained leads in Texas and Hawaii as a result.  However, with a week to go, a mid-sized scandal hit the Reese campaign.  Reese spun it down quickly enough, fortunately for his campaign, and with only a day to go, only Indiana and Maine were tied.  Reese had enough states to win.

Election Day came.  Indiana voted for Reese, which may very well have spelled doom for Stalin's campaign before the election got off the ground.  Kentucky, fortunately for Stalin, stayed with Stalin.  Florida went for Reese, but Georgia, New Hampshire, and South Carolina went with Stalin.  Reese picked off Vermont but Stalin got Virginia.  Reese then took North Carolina while Stalin kept Ohio and West Virginia.

Reese took most of the New England states at 9:00, plus Illinois and Michigan, but Massachusetts went with Stalin.  Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, and Oklahoma all voted for Stalin.  Pennsylvania and Rhode Island went with Reese, as did Tennessee, but Reese failed to win Texas, giving Stalin's campaign hope.  Reese got DC as a consolation prize.

Arkansas, Alabama, and Arizona all were won by Stalin, but Colorado was won by Reese.  Kansas went for Stalin, and so did Nebraska, Louisiana, Minnesota - surprisingly - and New Mexico.  New York went with Reese, but Wisconsin and the Mormon Triangle went with Stalin.  Montana and Nevada followed suit.  The election had turned out to be much closer than expected; Stalin was now at 261 electoral votes.  A win in Washington or Oregon plus either Hawaii or Alaska would mean victory for the Stalin campaign.

California delivered its electoral votes to Reese.  Hawaii did as well, but Oregon, in an upset, voted for Stalin.  Washington was won by Reese, but Alaska put Stalin over the top.  In a massive upset over the polls a day earlier, and in spite of the doom that the Reese victory in Indiana had predicted, Stalin had won the election.



Stalin/Lenin: 271 EVs - 48% PV - 60,690,482 votes
Reese/McCain: 267 EVs - 50% PV - 62,606,526 votes

[Platypus]

[Gabu]

β bracket, Game 3: Hughento (Hugh Bartlett) vs. Mike Naso (Mike Naso)

The election began with Naso ahead, though not overwhelmingly so.  The Pacific coast was all tied, save for Washington, in which Naso led.  Texas, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa were all tied, in addition to Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, and Maine.  Bartlett had leads in Illinois, Michigan, Hawaii, New York, Maryland, Delaware, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island.  Everything else was in Naso's column.

By the end of the first week in the campaign, the entire Pacific coast had Bartlett leading, and Bartlett solidified New England, gaining or solidifying leads in everywhere except Pennsylvania and New Jersey.  Naso, on the other hand, gained leads in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, and Texas.  Missouri, Connecticut, and Tennessee became tied.

By the second week, thanks to a Bartlett ad blitz, all of New England was now solidly behind him, and Minnesota and Wisconsin were back to ties.  Arizona, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Kentucky, and North Carolina also became ties.  A retaliatory ad blitz by Naso took California back to tied and regained him his lead in Arizona, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Kentucky.

In the beginning of the next week, Naso was struck by a massive scandal.  He attempted to spin it down, but Bartlett was able to counter-spin the story.  It did not help matters for Naso that in the same week, Bartlett won the first debate.  By the end of the week, Bartlett had solid leads accumulated in California, Florida, North Carolina, and Iowa, and had established a slimmer lead in Minnesota.  Oklahoma and Missouri went back to tied.

Naso attempted an attack ad campaign in response to Bartlett's momentum, but the ad backfired, hurting Naso's campaign and removing Naso's ability to counter Bartlett's surge in the polls.  Naso won the second debate, a much-needed bit of good news for the Naso campaign, but regardless, the next week showed that Bartlett was still gaining, establishing a lead in Missouri and bringing Wisconsin, Montana, Indiana, Tennessee, and Mississippi to ties.

Naso won the third debate as well, which he hoped would finally herald the beginning of turning the campaign around.  With one week to go, all of the previously tied states were back to Naso's column, but Kentucky, Louisiana, and Colorado were now tied.  Bartlett stood at 295 electoral votes; all he would need to do to win at this point is retain the status quo.  A week passed, and with only one day to go, Louisiana was the only tied state, and Bartlett was still at 295 electoral votes.

Election Day came.  Indiana and Kentucky voted as they usually do.  Florida was won by Bartlett, the first major setback for Naso, as Florida was one of the states within Naso's reach in the last week.  Georgia, South Carolina, and Virginia all voted for Naso, while Virginia and New Hampshire voted for Bartlett.  At 8:30, Naso won his home state of Ohio along with West Virginia, but North Carolina voted for Bartlett.

The 9 o'clock New England states plus Illinois all voted for Bartlett.  Michigan gave its electoral votes to Naso, as did Mississippi, but Missouri gave its to Bartlett.  The resemblance of the current status to the 295 electoral vote prediction given by the polls gave Naso's campaign a bit of dispair, though it vowed to fight on for every vote.

New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island all voted for Bartlett, while Tennessee, Oklahoma, and Texas all voted for Naso.  DC behaved as DC does.  Arkansas, Alabama, and Arizona, the Southern A's, all voted for Naso.  In the first bit of good news for Naso's campaign, Colorado voted in the same way, earning Naso his first victory on Election Day.  Kansas voted for Naso, but in a counter to Colorado's move, Louisiana voted for Bartlett, cancelling out the effect of Colorado.

Nebraska and New Mexico both voted for Naso, while Minnesota and New York voted for Bartlett.  The Dakotas were the Dakotas, but Wisconsin was for Bartlett.  The Mormon Triangle plus Montana voted as usual, and Nevada followed suit.  California sent Bartlett to 282 electoral votes, ending one of the least tense elections in history.



Bartlett/Benalcazar: 304 EVs - 51% PV - 63,935,591 votes
Naso/McCain: 234 EVs - 47% PV - 59,041,107 votes

[Platypus]

Well worth the wait.

[Max Power]

WTF?

[Gabu]

WTF?

Believe me, I had the exact same reaction.

[Bacon King]

WTF?

Wow. Maybe Stalin sent you off to the Gulag?

[George W. Hobbes]

President Joe Stalin?

[Speed of Sound]

WTF?

Now I dont feel as bad! ^_^

[Max Power]

WTF?

Wow. Maybe Stalin sent you off to the Gulag?

I think he erased my photos and destroyed everything related to my campaign.

[Gabu]

President Joe Stalin?

President Joe Stalin.

[Max Power]

President Joe Stalin?

President Joe Stalin.

President Joe Stalin!

[Speed of Sound]

President Joe Stalin?

President Joe Stalin.

President Joe Stalin!

President Joe Stalin.?!

[Gabu]

President Joe Stalin?

President Joe Stalin.

President Joe Stalin!

President Joe Stalin.?!

President Joe Stalin.?!*

[Speed of Sound]

President Joe Stalin?

President Joe Stalin.

President Joe Stalin!

President Joe Stalin.?!

President Joe Stalin.?!*

ooooooohhhhhhh........

[Defarge]

Pbrunsel vs. Peter.  Now that would be an Atlasian Election worth remembering

[Gabu]

Pbrunsel vs. Peter.  Now that would be an Atlasian Election worth remembering

Sadly, the FEC won.

Also, to anyone wondering: yes, I'll be doing the next game shortly.  It's just that this week has been the "holy Jesus absolutely everything is due" week.  I had one last-minute midterm and either have or had no less than four assignments due this week.  As such, I've been kind of busy.   I already have the delta-bracket game done because I completed it by accident before the gamma-bracket game, so I'll be able to post two at once when I complete the gamma-bracket game.

[ilikeverin]

President Joe Stalin?

President Joe Stalin.

President Joe Stalin!

President Joe Stalin.?!

President Joe Stalin.?!*

[Gabu]

But that will come out to the United States multiplied by President Joe Stalin, unless, of course, the United States is a function of Vladimir Lenin.

[Gabu]

Back to business!

γ bracket, Game 3: afleitch (Andrew Leitch) vs. htmldon (Don Johnson)

The election started out with Johnson as the clear favorite.  Texas, Illinois, Mississippi, Maryland, Delaware, New York, Vermont, and Rhode Island were tied.  The rest were in Johnson's column.  After the initial first-week-shift, Alabama and Rhode Island moved to Leitch's column, while Minnesota, Hawaii, Michigan, and Pennsylvania became tied.  Vermont, Delaware, Mississippi, and Illinois moved into Johnson's column.

A week went by, and New Jersey moved to Leitch's column while Alabama moved back to Johnson and Rhode Island became tied.  California also became tied, although Texas moved to Johnson's column.  After another week, the Pacific coast was now all tied, and Pennsylvania was now in Leitch's column.  Alabama and Louisiana became tied.

In the middle of the next week, a fair-sized scandal on Johnson was released.  To add to the resulting Leitch momentum, Leitch was declared the clear winner of the first debate.  It was beginning to seem like, for the first time, this race might be competative; Johnson had previously never been below 350 electoral votes.  An equal-sized scandal was launched on Leitch the next week; however, Leitch spun it down within a day.

By the next polling period, Leitch was ahead in Oregon, Iowa, Arkansas, and Illinois, with Wisconsin, Missouri, Tennessee, West Virginia, Florida, Vermont, and Maine all tied.  Leitch won the second debate, further increasing his momentum, although another scandal on Leitch was released the very next day.  Leitch spun that scandal down, as well, however.

With one week to go in the election, the tide was beginning to turn for Leitch.  He was now ahead in California, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Indiana, Delaware, Hawaii, and Maine, although his home state of Georgia still held fast to Johnson.  Illinois was back to tied; however, Nevada, Ohio, New York, Massachusetts, Vermont, and Mississippi were also all tied.  Johnson was now only at 243 electoral votes; Leitch was at 154, and 141 were up in the air.

A last-minute scandal was launched on Leitch, but once again, Leitch successfully spun it down.  With one day left in the election, this election was certainly going to come down to the tossup states.  Leitch had gained leads in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Maine, and Vermont, but the massive number of tossup states included California, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, West Virginia, New York, and Massachusetts.  Johnson was ahead of Leitch in terms of strong/lean electoral votes 236-147, but 155 electoral votes were still up for grabs, including the crown jewel that is California.

Election Day came.  Leitch won Indiana, but Johnson took Kentucky.  Leitch won Florida by a surprisingly large percentage, taking in over 57% of the vote.  Georgia, however, voted against Leitch, giving its electoral votes to Johnson.  New Hampshire gave Johnson a shocking 62% of the vote.  South Carolina and Virginia went for Johnson, but Vermont went for Leitch.  No tossup states had come up yet.

North Carolina went for Leitch, but Ohio went for Johnson.  The first tossup state of West Virginia came up, and it went for Leitch by 52%, giving Leitch hope that the rest would follow suit.  Johnson hoped for California; if he could win California, all other efforts by Leitch would have been in vain.  Connecticut went for Johnson, but Delaware went for Leitch.  Illinois, another tossup, voted for Leitch, giving Leitch his second win.  Maine voted for Leitch, but Maryland voted for Johnson.  Massachusetts voted for Leitch, giving Leitch his third tossup state.  Things were looking promising for Leitch.  Michigan just barely voted for Leitch, 49.9%-49.4%

Mississippi voted for Johnson and Missouri followed suit by the exact same margin seen in Michigan, giving Johnson his first win in a tossup state.  New Jersey then voted for Leitch, but Oklahoma became the second tossup state to vote for Johnson, and by the tiniest margin yet of 48.5%-48.4%.  This election was promising to come down to the wire, with each candidate fighting as if their life depended on it for the swing states.  Pennsylvania voted for Leitch, while Rhode Island voted for Johnson, the first Republican ever to which it gave its electoral votes.  Tennessee voted in favor of Leitch, giving Leitch his fourth tossup victory, to the dismay of Johnson, a Tennessee native.  DC voted as DC does.

Arkansas gave its electoral votes to Leitch, but Alabama and Arizona voted for Johnson, as did Colorado.  Kansas stayed with Johnson, enabling Johnson to claim his third tossup victory.  Louisiana and Minnesota voted for Johnson, as did Nebraska and New Mexico.  Much to Leitch's relief, New York voted for Leitch by the slimmest of margins, 49.8%-48.3%, giving Leitch his biggest tossup victory yet.  It seemed like the election would indeed come down to California.

The Dakotas fell into line behind Johnson, and Wisconsin followed suit.  The Mormon Triangle plus Montana and Nevada all voted for Johnson, while Iowa voted for Leitch.  Johnson was now at 242 electoral votes, and Leitch was at 212.  It was all up to California now.  As California went, so would go America.

California gave Leitch 51.3% of the vote.

Hawaii voted for Leitch, and took Leitch to 271 electoral votes.



Leitch/Edwards: 278 EVs - 48% PV - 61,041,403 votes
Johnson/Schwarzenegger: 260 EVs - 50% PV - 62,427,497 votes

[Gabu]

δ bracket, Game 3: Ilikeverin (Chris Ilikeverin) vs. Mr. Hobbes (Alan Hobbes)

The election began with many states tied.  The Pacific coast, along with Nevada, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, New Mexico, Colorado, Louisiana, Michigan, New Hampshire, Delaware, and Maine, were all tied.  Ilikeverin controlled the rest of New England, save for Pennsylvania, in which Hobbes was ahead.  Ilikeverin also held a lead in Illinois.  The rest showed Hobbes leads.

A week into the election, Hobbes was gaining.  Hobbes established a lead in California, Minnesota, Iowa, and New Hampshire, although Florida and Ohio were now tied.  Ilikeverin made up ground in the second week, however, gaining leads in Washington, Oregon, and Pennsylvania, and bringing California, Minnesota, Tennessee, and North Carolina to ties.

In the third week, in a race proving to be very up-and-down, Hobbes again reversed the tide, regaining the lead in California, Minnesota, Iowa, Ohio, and Florida.  However, the day after the poll, a mid-sized scandal was released on Hobbes, endangering his momentum.  Hobbes quickly countered by releasing a major scandal on Ilikeverin, killing both of their momenta.  Ilikeverin managed to spin his scandal down after two days; however, Hobbes' lingered for longer.  Hobbes then won the first debate, however, bringing the back-and-forth efforts between the two campaigns to nearly a standstill.

Ilikeverin then had a second, mid-sized scandal attack his campaign, further damaging his momentum.  Ilikeverin took five days before he succeeded in spinning it down.  However, he also won the second debate, and it all appeared to simply be a wash.  By the time two weeks were remaining in the campaign, California was back to tied, as were Ohio and West Virginia.  Connecticut were also tied.

Hobbes won the third debate, acquiring himself some much-needed momentum to break away from the standoff the election was currently in.  With one week remaining in the campaign, Hobbes regained his lead in California and Minnesota.  Iowa, Vermont, Massachusetts, and Connecticut were tied.  With a day left in the campaign, Ilikeverin had gained leads in Vermont, West Virginia, Mississippi, New Mexico, Wisconsin, and Iowa, and had brought Missouri and Kansas to being tied, but it seemed like it would not be enough: Hobbes was still at 295 electoral votes.  Ilikeverin needed something big to happen on Election Day.

Election Day came.  In a very early upset, Ilikeverin won his home state of Indiana [I swear, this is an accurate retelling of what happened. -Ed.].  Kentucky stayed with Hobbes, however.  Florida, Georgia, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Virginia all voted for Hobbes, while Vermont voted for Ilikeverin.  North Carolina and Ohio went with Hobbes, but Ilikeverin retained West Virginia.

Hobbes won Connecticut, but Ilikeverin took Delaware, Illinois, and Maryland.  However, Hobbes then also took Massachusetts in an upset, harshly endangering Ilikeverin's chances.  Ilikeverin then claimed Michigan, Mississippi, but was stopped by Hobbes from getting Missouri.  New Jersey, Oklahoma, and Rhode Island all went for Ilikeverin, and Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas went for Hobbes.  DC was DC.

The Southern A's (Arkansas, Alabama, and Arizona) all voted for Hobbes, as did Colorado, Kansas, and Louisiana.  Nebraska followed suit, as did Minnesota, a defeat for Ilikeverin that spelled almost certain doom for Ilikeverin's campaign.  New Mexico and New York both went with Ilikeverin, however, while the Dakotas were the Dakotas.  Ilikeverin took Wisconsin while Idaho and Wyoming went for Hobbes.  By this time, Hobbes was at 268 electoral votes, so to win, Ilikeverin would need to win every single remaining state.

But no, Montana voted for Hobbes and bumped him to 272 electoral votes.



Hobbes/Watterson: 340 EVs - 51% PV - 63,591,141 votes
Ilikeverin/Dayton: 198 EVs - 48% PV - 60,068,992 votes

[Speed of Sound]

Congrats Afleitch! way to squeeze that one out!