Second Round of the Presidential Forever Championships

[Sam Spade]

Had a little bit of bad luck out there.  Oh well. 

[Lt. Gov. Immy]

Game 3:

josh22 [9] v. Immy [12]

Josh Craddock started off with a slight lead...and expanded it...but, then, around mid-October, Everett started coming back, and it was dead even for the last three weeks.

The key states:  West Virginia and New Mexico.

Craddock needed both.

He won New Mexico.

He lost West Virginia by 13,000 votes.

Eric Everett (D-ID): 49%, 62,034,577, 272 EV
Josh Craddock (R-NC): 49%, 61,233,502, 266 EV

Nice.  I new that one would be close.  Don't know how I was able to pull of Louisiana.

[Platypus]

Mississippi but not NH? That sounds like my first post...

[Gabu]

Mississippi but not NH? That sounds like my first post...

I somehow carried Kansas but not West Virginia, which is equally as likely.

[Gustaf]

I always lose Minnesota when I play, for some reason...and I should do a lot better in the Northeast, considering my platform, I think.

[Bono]

Game 3:

Bono v. Gabu

Gabu, the second seed for the Democrats, was favored to win this race.  Started off in the lead...and kept it.

Lucas Longley (D-WA): 54%, 67,514,087, 375 EV
Bono Vox (R-NH): 44%, 55,937,375, 163 EV

My condolences to Bono on losing his home state by 24%...but my congratulations on coming within 1.3% of winning Maryland, and winning the state of Hawaii.

My "home state" is south carolina, and how come I won west virginia but lost florida and kansas?

I've got Bono Vox down as being from NH...


Anyway, more results (hopefully more balanced) should be coming later tonight into tomorrow.


Nobody's eliminated yet...

OH yea I remember when I fieled that.
Sorry.

[Erc]

For this second group of games, I kept it at 5-4 (Rep-Dem establishment), but swung each state 2% to the Republicans to even the playing field.

Again, regionalism, no dynamism.

[Erc]

Ok...

Just ran the first three games...and let's just say it wasn't pretty.

The Democrats won Texas in all three games.

The same old syndrome, that the Republicans start off strong but slip and die...is still there.

I'm going to move the starting date up by a week and see if the Republicans do any better.

[Erc]

I think this might be working out better.  Maybe.

Game 1:

Wildcard [1] v. Hughento [1]

Battle of the Titans.

Hard-fought battle, but Lane had the advantage all the way through--California gave him a large advantage, forcing Bartlett to spend money in what should have been a solid Democratic state.

Final Results:

Hugh Bartlett (D-OR): 49%, 61,918,022, 264 EV
Michael R. Lane (R-CA): 49%, 61,025,755, 274 EV



A lot of really close states in the Midwest...Missouri, Indiana...

And the Republicans finally manage to win a game!

Will their luck hold up?

Dubya [15] v. Cosmo Kramer [10]

This was a dashed exciting race, with its fair share of exciting scandals, debates, and so forth.  As election day approached, the country was split down the middle:  45% Kramer, 45% Goldwater...269 EV for Kramer, 269 EV for Goldwater.  Each candidate and his running mate spent the last day in their top target state:  Iowa for the Republicans, Louisiana for the Democrats.

Cosmo Kramer (D-AR): 49%, 62,018,776, 269 EV
William Goldwater (R-FL): 48%, 60,803,611, 269 EV


(sorry, forgot to get the percentages on this one).

Although Dubya obviously won in Congress, we can't penalize Kramer for circumstances out of his control...so this will be counted as a tie for our purposes.

Game 3:

Keystone Phil [6] v. Rob Byers [15]

No brilliant commentary for this one.  Sorry.

Rob Byers (D-TX): 49%, 61,990,513, 289 EV
Keystone Phil (R-PA): 49%, 61,450,691, 249 EV




Overall, 1 Republican win, 1 tie, and 1 Democrat win.

Not bad...although the Democrats have won the popular vote marginally in all three.

[Erc]

Group B:

Game 1:

PBrunsel [2] v. Gabu [2]

Brunsel started off with a definite advantage in this one, up in the polls by one point, and confining the Democrats to the Northeast, Washington, and Illinois.  Of course, Longley did gain as time went on, but it was an uphill struggle.  But after a couple scandals, Brunsel began to suffer, down by 5 points in the polls by the 18th of October.  However, Brunsel annihilated Longley in the last debate, bringing some pep back into his faltering campaign and placing within one point of the lead.  His position was still weak going into election day--the hopes of the entire Republican party would rest on the state of Ohio come Tuesday.

Despite Brunsel's spending nearly a week there, Ohio proved fickle.

Lucas Longley [D-WA]:  50%, 62,936,015, 292 EV
Paul Brunsel [R-IA]: 48%, 60,592,346, 242 EV



There were also excruciatingly close losses for Brunsel in Tennessee and Wisconsin.


Game 2:
Jake [14] v. Akno21 [9]

Nichols started out at a slight disadvantage, but soon began to make it up, despite a humiliating loss to Knobel in the first debate (Nichols later recovered and fought Knobel to a draw in the next two).  Although the Nichols campaign took a serious blow when Knobel took a large lead in Florida, he started making inroads into Knobel territory in the last week--but these ultimately did not come to fruition.

Alex Knobel (D-MD): 64,056,495, 51%, 282 EV
Jake Nichols (R-PA): 59,909,564, 47%, 256 EV



Close losses in Minnesota and Connecticut for Nichols.


Game 3:
Bono [7] v. Ebowed [14]

Bono had a humiliating loss in the last round...
While Ebowed had a humiliating loss in the first.

One of them is going to have to win this game.


Bono started off with a huge lead, with a 6% lead over Porceddu and over 300 EV's in the bag.  Porceddu gradually began to solidify his base states (California, for example), but he was still in serious trouble.  His victory in the first debate was buried in the news by a scandal of his...Bono then won the second debate, took the lead in California, and still had a 5% lead nationally.  Porceddu did win the final debate, preventing an utter collapse of his campaign.  Both candidates got hit with large scandals in the last two weeks (Bono Momentum: -220, Porceddu Momentum: -55 on Nov 1), creating a lot of uncertainty coming into the election.  Bono, for the first time, did not have 270 EV under wraps...but, considering his 4-point national lead, it was assumed by most pundits that he'd win nonetheless.

When Bono won Florida early in the night, his victory was essentially guaranteed.

Bono Vox (R-NH):  63,535,363, 51%, 325 EV
Dan Porceddu (D-SC):  59,425,269, 47%, 213 EV




First Republican PV victory of the night.

[Erc]

Group C:

supersoulty [3] v. Max Power [13]

Situation on September 22:

Solid Democrat: D.C.
Lean Democrat:
Tossup: HI, DE, NJ, NY, MA, CT, RI
Lean Republican: MI, VT, MD, CA
Solid Republican:  Everything Else.

Soult with a 14-point lead.


Reese did a good job, considering...he took back IL within a week, got the Big Mo (+193) in two weeks.  But the dream wasn't to be.  Soult won the first two debates and crushed Reese in the third, retook the West Coast, and sprung a scandal on Reese.  On election day, Soult still had a ten-point lead in the polls.

Chris Soult (R-PA): 54%, 67,457,418, 359 EV
Max Power (D-PA): 44%, 55,838,902, 179 EV



Reese squeaked by with California by 12,000 votes.


Game 2:

Cheesewhiz [13] v. Sam Spade [3]

Ard started off this game with a three-point advantage over Anderson (the only Democrat to lose in the last round).  After two uninspiring weeks, Anderson began to surge, getting neck-and-neck with Ard in the polls, putting California securely back in his column...and then got hit with a Power 9 scandal, which far outplayed the draw in the first debate in the media.  Ard regained a two-point lead, only to see Anderson win the second debate.  Ard won the third, but it made little dent in Anderson's campaign, which had somehow gained a solid two-point lead over Ard and an extremely solid base of 260 EV.  It was still anyone's game, however...until Anderson gained an 18-point lead in Florida overnight--a near-inexplicable gain, that, ultimately, cost Ard the election.

John Anderson (D-LA): 51%, 63,842,465, 287 EV
Mark Ard (R-WI): 47%, 59,563,937, 251 EV




Game 3:

Colin Wixted [8] v. Ilikeverin [8]

Ilikeverin started with the smallest of advantages, but this was anybody's game.  In the third week of campaigning, however, Ilikeverin started running away with it...tempered somewhat by Wixted's win in the first debate, but not enough.  Wixted gained the Big Mo after his win in the second debate, and narrowed the gap between the two of them.  Wixted's win in the third debate made the race once again completely even...until Wixted, in turn, was hit with a scandal--a moderate one, but enough to seriously dent his momentum.  The key state going into Election Day was, once again, Florida...Ilikeverin had a 3-point lead here, but the Republicans hoped it could be surmounted.

But it was not to be.

Wixted's failure in Florida, and, probably more importantly, the Southwest, doomed him to a narrow defeat despite his great successes elsewhere.

Chris Ilikeverin (D-IN): 62,534,165, 50%, 278 EV
Colin Wixted (R-AK): 60,841,812, 48%, 260 EV

[Sam Spade]

My Southern strategy worked a little this time at least.

Picking off Florida, West Virginia and Virginia more than made up for the loss of Minnesota and Iowa.

[TheWildCard]

I think this might be working out better.  Maybe.

Game 1:

Wildcard [1] v. Hughento [1]

Battle of the Titans.

Hard-fought battle, but Lane had the advantage all the way through--California gave him a large advantage, forcing Bartlett to spend money in what should have been a solid Democratic state.

Final Results:

Hugh Bartlett (D-OR): 49%, 61,918,022, 264 EV
Michael R. Lane (R-CA): 49%, 61,025,755, 274 EV



A lot of really close states in the Midwest...Missouri, Indiana...

LOL Glad I won one, though I am surprised that I got sweeped in the coastal wes and western boarder states! Some how I essentially ran away with the steal belt tahnk goodness the race wasn't about free trade

Good race Hugh.

[Erc]

Group D:

Ernest [4] v. Alcon [4]

Bunbury started the game with the slightest of leads...which he expanded to two points...then three...and then he won the first debate...but Alcon, in the meantime, had gotten the Big Mo', and was closing the gap quickly, despite his debate loss.  Bunbury won the second debate...but he was still mired in negative momentum for some reason, and was down by 4 in the polls...and, to top it off, Alcon won the third debate.  As election day neared, San Croix had a five-point lead...but there was no clear leader in the electoral vote...

Bunbury did much better than expected, losing the popular vote by only two percent...but failed to take either Massachusetts or Minnesota, giving San Croix the election.

Alcon San Croix (D-WA): 63,320,466, 50%, 277 EV
Ernest Bunbury (R-SC): 59,887,269, 48%, 261 EV



Game 2:
AndrewBerger [12] v. Immy [12]

Everett started off with the advantage here, and didn't let go.  This was not aided by the Berger campaign's decision to spend the final week of the campaign courting Vermont.  And, come November 2nd, they did win Vermont and her three electoral votes.

Eric Everett (D-ID): 64,743,857, 52%, 298 EV
Andrew Berger (R-NY): 58,549,338, 47%, 240 EV



josh22 [9] v. nini2287 [7]

Craddock started off with a solid three-point lead over Holler, and quickly expanded it--no state between Maryland and Hawaii was truly secure for the Democrats.  Holler recovered in California to some extent...but was down 5 in the polls.

This, however, was followed by three things:

1) A moderate Craddock Scandal
2) A difference between Holler's and Craddock's momentum of over 300
3) Holler leaving Craddock's skull ground into a bloody pulp on the debate floor.

Craddock's lead fell to one point.  However, despite his loss in the second debate, there wasn't much more abuse Craddock could take...he slowly began to bounce back, expanding his lead to two points...which he soon lost again.  Holler made gains in the Mississippi Valley and in the polls--ahead two going into election day.

And then Craddock fell prey to Murphy's Law on Election Day.

Nicholas Holler (D-PA): 62,247,814, 49%, 299 EV
Josh Craddock (R-NC): 60,623,666, 48%, 239 EV




Methinks the Republicans will need a bit more help.

[Max Power]

supersoulty [3] v. Max Power [13]

Situation on September 22:

Solid Democrat: D.C.
Lean Democrat:
Tossup: HI, DE, NJ, NY, MA, CT, RI
Lean Republican: MI, VT, MD, CA
Solid Republican:  Everything Else.

Soult with a 14-point lead.


Reese did a good job, considering...he took back IL within a week, got the Big Mo (+193) in two weeks.  But the dream wasn't to be.  Soult won the first two debates and crushed Reese in the third, retook the West Coast, and sprung a scandal on Reese.  On election day, Soult still had a ten-point lead in the polls.

Chris Soult (R-PA): 54%, 67,457,418, 359 EV
Max Power (D-PA): 44%, 55,838,902, 179 EV



Reese squeaked by with California by 12,000 votes.

Wow, I did bad. I wonder if its just supersoulty is good or if its because I'm ranked 13th.

[Ben Meyers]

I never knew I could make a good Democratic candidate.  Rob Byers is doing pretty darn good

[ilikeverin]

Wixted's failure in Florida, and, probably more importantly, the Southwest, doomed him to a narrow defeat despite his great successes elsewhere.

Chris Ilikeverin (D-IN): 62,534,165, 50%, 278 EV
Colin Wixted (R-AK): 60,841,812, 48%, 260 EV

It must've been my mad Spanish skillz

Whew, Indiana >40% Wixted, I know some day I will win my homestate

[Erc]

Group E:

Erc [5] v. True Democrat [5]

I started out with a solid three-point lead here...but will I fall prey to the same disease that doomed Craddock?

Maybe, maybe not.

Despite scandals (on both sides), my generally poor performance in the debates, and so forth, the race stayed pretty neck-and-neck.

Come November 1, the race was tied 46-46, although I had a slight lead over Democrat in the electoral vote.  My weak spot?  Texas.  But could Democrat (D-PA) exploit it?

To the surprise of all the pundits...yes.  Talbott made the mistake of camping out in Arizona, of all places, on the final day, while True Democrat exerted his full effort on Texas...which he won by less than 70,000 votes (0.7%).

True Democrat (D-PA): 61,942,730, 49%, 299 EV
P.G. Talbott (R-NY): 60,941,525, 49%, 239 EV

* Erc screams

Game 2:

DanielX [11] v. Gustaf [6]

Lundgren started out with a decisive four-point advantage.  However, despite scandals and losses in the first two debates, Smith continued fighting and kept the election quite competitive up until Lundgren took Florida by three points on Election Day.

Gustaf Lundgren (D-MN): 51%, 63,703,604, 285 EV
Daniel Smith (R-WY): 47%, 59,218,359, 253 EV



Game 3:

MHS2002 [10] v. Blerpiez [11]

Pettit began with an astonishing six-point lead over Blerpiez.  This was narrowed to three points by Election Day--just enough to ensure that Pettit could not be absolutely sure of victory.  Blerpiez needed to win Connecticut, Tennessee, Wisconsin, and Louisiana in order to win...and, of course, not lose any of his own states.

As the states rolled in, Blerpiez won Connecticut...
Tennessee (decisively)...
Louisiana (by 5000 votes)...

All eyes turned to Wisconsin.

But the election-night miracle was not to be, and Wisconsin went to Pettit by 5 points.

Scott Pettit (R-DC): 51%, 63,652,602, 273 EV
Peter Blerpiez (D-MA): 47%, 59,671,745, 265 EV

[Erc]

Total Record Today:

R: 4
D: 9
Tie: 1

R: 49.7% of the vote
D: 50.3% of the vote

Since the Democrats still have a small advantage, next round, I'm going to funnel some of the Libertarian vote into the Republican vote, and move the beginning date forward 5 days.

[Erc]

And now, a taste of Round 3.

Group A:

Wildcard [1] v. Ben Meyers [15]

Lane started out with an advantage, and kept it, albeit narrowly, for the rest of the election.

Michael R. Lane (R-CA): 50%, 62,972,399, 288 EV
Rob Byers (D-TX): 48%, 60,485,330, 250 EV



Game 2:

Dubya [15] v. Hughento [1]

The two began neck-and-neck--but soon swung heavily to Bartlett.  However, despite a crippling scandal, Goldwater began to fight back--but, by November 1, it was clear that Goldwater, despite his best efforts, just wasn't going to dig himself out of the whole that -123 momentum dug for him.

Although Goldwater did better than expected on Election Day, it wasn't quite enough.

Hugh Bartlett (D-OR): 51%, 64,070,952, 273 EV
William Goldwater (R-FL): 47%, 59,591,627, 265 EV



Game 3:

Keystone Phil [6] v. Cosmo Kramer [10]

Phil started with a five-point lead.  Although Kramer had somehow completely eliminated it by Election Day, Phil still had a slight advantage in the Electoral College.

Keystone Phil (R-PA): 62,151,429, 50%, 278 EV
Cosmo Kramer (D-AR): 61,098,385, 49%, 260 EV.



Both candidates just barely won their home states.


Group B and C results to be posted tomorrow, D and E on Friday.

[Gabu]

Whew, Indiana >40% Wixted, I know some day I will win my homestate

I won it for you; how's that?

[Lt. Gov. Immy]

Whew, Indiana >40% Wixted, I know some day I will win my homestate

How do you think I feel?  I was only able to win my home state against the punching bag.

[Erc]

Since I'm utterly bored today...

Group B:

Game 1:

PBrunsel [2] v. Ebowed [14]

As expected, Brunsel started off with a large lead...and kept it for the entire game.  Porceddu did perform very well electorally consider how far he lagged behind Brunsel in the popular vote, however.

Paul Brunsel (R-IA): 53%, 66,047,260, 282 EV
Dan Porceddu (D-SC): 46%, 57,697,401, 256 EV



PBrunsel only lost California by 0.5%.

Game 2:
Jake [14] v. Gabu [2]

Longley started off with a three point lead (and the control of Texas), but Nichols rallied quickly, closing the gap to one point.  As Nichols won the last debate and Longley got hit with a minor scandal, Nichols actually took the lead in the last week and forced Longley to spend precious time keeping California in his column, where Nichols had somehow garnered a three-point lead.

Longley did, indeed win California (by .4%), but the time he spent there certainly cost him Arizona (where he lost by 8000 votes) and Tennessee (loss by 5700 votes).

Jake Nichols (R-PA): 50%, 62,694,382, 273 EV
Lucas Longley (D-WA): 48%, 60,512,982, 265 EV



Well, that was a shock.  Congratulations to Jake on what can only be described as a very lucky victory.

May I have tipped the balance too far to the Republicans?


Game 3:

Bono [7] v. Akno [9]

Bono's had a bit of a whirlwind tour so far...let's see how he does this round.

Bono started off with a three-point lead, but it soon diminished, and by election day, Knobel had a two-point lead.  Would November 2 hold any surprises?

Nope.

Alex Knobel (D-MD): 63,475,340, 51%, 275 EV
Bono Vox (R-NH): 60,082,056, 48%, 263 EV

[True Democrat]

Group E:

Erc [5] v. True Democrat [5]

I started out with a solid three-point lead here...but will I fall prey to the same disease that doomed Craddock?

Maybe, maybe not.

Despite scandals (on both sides), my generally poor performance in the debates, and so forth, the race stayed pretty neck-and-neck.

Come November 1, the race was tied 46-46, although I had a slight lead over Democrat in the electoral vote.  My weak spot?  Texas.  But could Democrat (D-PA) exploit it?

To the surprise of all the pundits...yes.  Talbott made the mistake of camping out in Arizona, of all places, on the final day, while True Democrat exerted his full effort on Texas...which he won by less than 70,000 votes (0.7%).

True Democrat (D-PA): 61,942,730, 49%, 299 EV
P.G. Talbott (R-NY): 60,941,525, 49%, 239 EV

* Erc screams

I can't believe I won Texas!!

[Erc]

I can't believe I won Texas!!

You got lucky. 

But congratulations are in order anyway.

I've lost all my games so far by little piddly margins like that.  First game...Florida by a nose.  Second game...Texas by a nose.

Next character I create's going to be from the South...