Yay Election! Last night was exciting, but I’m sure many of us still get confused about the whole electoral college process ( and by “many of us” I mean me). Yes, I took 7th grade history thank you very much, but every election I always need a refresher in how electoral votes work because let’s get realzies here, it is sorta confusing. Those red and blue colors serves a greater purpose than just creating a pretty map, they represent who won the popular vote in each state. The president elect is the one who wins enough states to achieve 270 electoral votes, a majority of the 538 that are available. So it is not about getting the most overall popular votes. Sorta makes your head spin, no? Thank God for Google (really, imagine if I had to go look this stuff up in an encyclopedia? By the time I got to the library I probably would have lost interest in the topic).
Want to learn about the electoral process? takepart and visit 270towin.com. This cool site features an interactive Electoral College map for 2008 and a history of Presidential elections in the United States. You can view electoral maps from 1789-2004 to see the outcome of that election, and historical information. You can also type in questions to 270toWin Answers and it will tell you the last time the event you are looking for happened in a presidential election. Awesome. And if you download one of 270.com’s interactive desktop maps, be sure to takepart and donate to their efforts.
John Quincy Adams is all over the place these days. First he appeared in the best-selling biography of by historian David McCullough. The book inspired Tom Hanks to produce the HBO seven-part miniseries John Adams, in which Mr. Adams was played by 