2012 US Presidential Election Prediction

Nevada (6), Colorado (9), New Mexico (5), Iowa (6), Indiana (11), Ohio (18), Virginia (13), North Carolina (15) and Florida (29). These are the swing states to watch out for next year. They all voted Democrat in 2008 and Republican in 2004. They make up a total of 112 electoral votes with the remainder split between the Democrats and Republicans by 246 and 180 respectively. The magic figure needed for victory is 270. In fact you can narrow the swing states even further by eliminating New Mexico and Iowa, who I suspect will vote Democrat. That would leave them just 13 short of victory. Of course, I'm sure it won't actually pan out this way because I'm out of my depth when it comes to American politics. But I thought I'd have a bit of fun, play around with the results from recent elections, stick my neck out and gaze into the crystal ball. It'll be interesting to see what actually happens. It's amazing how four years without a visit and then two in nine months has rekindled my fascination for all things American. You can see a map-based representation of my fanciful predictions here.

Words & Phrases: June 2011

01. Gloaming
02. Redoubt
03. Venal
04. Après moi le Deluge
05. Every which way
06. Maudlin
07. Bravura
08. Scrivener
09. Carpetbagger
10. Caroused
11. Kippered
12. Anchor store
13. Piquancy
14. Largesse
15. Bint
16. Bang tidy
17. Check yourself before you wreck yourself
18. Chew the cud
19. Moribund
20. Claggy
21. Churlish
22. Ignorantio elenchi
23. Signal-to-noise ratio
24. Splitting the baby
25. Miranda warning
26. Recuse
27. My giddy aunt
28. Pulp fiction
29. Stemware
30. Between Scylla and Charybdis
31. Fane

Many more words this month compared to May but just the one from French (4) and for the first time, one from Latin (22). There's also a couple of bawdy slang terms again (15 & 16) and a few Americanisms (9, 17 & 25).

[Poll #1757775]

Town Meeting of the World: "The Image of America and the Youth of the World"

A fascinating clip worth watching for the politically inclined. The more I learn about Robert Kennedy, the more I realise what a loss he was to the American (and global) political establishment. [FULL TRANSCRIPT]

My tweets

• Fri, 08:17: Check out my latest electoral map forecast for the 2012 presidential election http://t.co/qLm0LrK via @270toWin
• Fri, 10:11: As I was hoping, England will be hosting India for a pair of five Test series in 2014 and 2018. Bloody marvellous! #Cricket #ICC #FTP