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In Play: A Commentary on Strategies in the 2004 U.S. Presidential Election

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  • Jennifer Merolla
  • Michael Munger
  • Michael Tofias

Abstract

“A lot of military battle plans going back to the Civil War say ‘whoever controls the Mississippi controls America.’ And Bush is marching straight up the Mississippi,” the Democratic strategist said. “We’ve just retreated from Louisiana, Arkansas and Missouri. They already control Mississippi, Tennessee and Kentucky. Bush is now moving in on Iowa and Wisconsin. And except for Illinois, which isn’t in play, there’s only one state left: Minnesota, the mouth of the river. And it’s dead even [i.e., a tie] there.” From CNN.com, ALLPOLITICS, September 23, 2004: Mercurio, John and Molly Levinson. “CNN Survey: Bush widens lead in Electoral College.” CNN Political Unit. 27 Sept. 2004 > http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/ 09/23/electoral.map > “All total, 21 states are in play. Some will bounce between “lean [toward a candidate]” to “tossup” throughout the campaign.” USA Today, July 25, 2004: “AP: Bush leads Kerry in electoral votes.” A.P. 25 July 2004, > whttp://www.usatoday.com/news/Politicselections/nation/Presiden t/2004-07-25-bush-kerry-electoral-votes_x.htm > Copyright Springer Science + Business Media, Inc. 2005

Suggested Citation

  • Jennifer Merolla & Michael Munger & Michael Tofias, 2005. "In Play: A Commentary on Strategies in the 2004 U.S. Presidential Election," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 123(1), pages 19-37, April.
  • Handle: RePEc:kap:pubcho:v:123:y:2005:i:1:p:19-37
    DOI: 10.1007/s11127-005-3209-x
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Myerson, Roger B., 1993. "Incentives to Cultivate Favored Minorities Under Alternative Electoral Systems," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 87(4), pages 856-869, December.
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    3. Enric Boix-Adser`a & Benjamin L. Edelman & Siddhartha Jayanti, 2020. "The Multiplayer Colonel Blotto Game," Papers 2002.05240, arXiv.org, revised May 2021.
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    7. Scott Macdonell & Nick Mastronardi, 2015. "Waging simple wars: a complete characterization of two-battlefield Blotto equilibria," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 58(1), pages 183-216, January.

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