Quadrennial Bored Presidential Prophecy Contest - The Rules

[nitrah55]

Quadrennial Bored Presidential Prophecy Contest

DO NOT POST YOUR ENTRIES IN THIS THREAD.
The contest is not open for entries until October 21.

The contest consists of 3 questions:

Q1 – Who will win the 2008 presidential election?
ONLY contestants who correctly answer Q1 will be eligible to win the contest.

Q2 - List the states the winner of the 2008 presidential election will carry by dint of getting all or most of the electoral votes from that state.
List ONLY the states which the winner of the election carries, and please list them in alphabetical order.
Question 2 will be graded this way:
+1 point for each state on your list carried by the winner.
-1 point for each state not on your list carried by the winner
-2 points for each state on your list not carried by the winner
With the exception of
DAILY DOUBLE STATES.
I will designate up to 5 states for which the points available will double, that is,
+2 points for each DD state on your list carried by the winner
-2 points for each DD state not on your list carried by the winner
-4 points for each DD state on your list not carried by the winner
The DD states will be named in the first post in the contest thread.
These will, obviously, be states in which I deem the race is close.

Q3 (Tiebreaker)
I will select one state, and ask you to tell me the percentage of the popular vote Barack Obama carries in that state. I will select another state, and ask you tell me the percentage of the popular vote John McCain carries in that state. Then I will ask you to predict the Dow Jones Industrial Average at closing, Tuesday, November 4. That will result in 3 numbers. List them, and add them. The contestant whose TOTAL of those three numbers is closest to the total of the actual results WITHOUT GOING OVER will win the tiebreaker. All percentages are to be rounded to the nearest whole number prior to submission; the DJIA is to be posted to two decimal points. If contestants tie the tiebreaker total, then the contestant who picked the DJIA closest without going over will win the tiebreaker. If there is still a tie, then the tied contestants will be given an essay question to be judged by the judges in their (my) sole discretion.

I will post the questions October 21.
There will be a 3-point bonus for anyone who posts their answers before Noon, Eastern Time, October 28.
Only post answers in the contest thread. Please do not post anything but answers in the contest thread. There will be another thread for comments, questions or the unlikely complaints.
Only one entry per contestant. No changes to answers are allowed once an entry is posted. Put your answers in anti-spoiler boxes.
If a state splits its electoral votes, the winner of a state will be deemed to be the candidate who gets the majority of votes in that state. If the candidates tie in electoral votes in a given state, there will be no winner for that state.
The source for determining the winner of a given state and vote tallies will be the results posted in the New York Times on Thursday, November 6. If a given race is not resolved by then, it will be solely in the discretion of the judges (me) to decide how to rule on that state, and all decisions of the judges will be arbitrary, prejudiced and final.

The winner will receive a copy of “Double-Take,” the much-anticipated new Christmas pageant published by Abingdon Press, and written by, well, me.

Any questions?