Author: tilthouse

I’m looking for a roommate for NN.  You’d have your own bedroom in a 2BR situation, very, very close to the convention center, right on 6th St.  It’s about two block according to Google Maps.

If you want to be in the center of it all, get a cheaper room than the nearby hotels, all while maintaining some privacy, get in touch.

Your cost would be about $312, which covers a Wednesday check-in with Monday morning check-out (5 nights).  The nightly cost for the whole thing is cheaper than a room at the Hilton et al.  There is also a $200 refundable deposit that I will have to pay.  I’d ask for a check for $100 that I’d mail back to you when I got mine back.

The only downsides I am aware of: you must pay cash upon arrival (or money order / cashiers check) and it’s so close to the party district as to be noisy.  The noise is not a problem for me — I sleep fine with earplugs and recommend them if this is the only reason you’d pass this up.

There is, I understand, also a pullout sofa in a loft over the living area.  A third roommate could take that and reduce costs further, but I don’t really see the need.

More about your potential roommate after the flip…

Just in case you are particular about your roommates (we wouldn’t be sharing a bedroom, so such things are not a big deal to me):  I’m male, mid-thirties.  I do not smoke tobacco — if you do, just keep in outside the condo.  I do drink and am something of a beer snob (I homebrew), so I’ll be doing some beer tourism while in Austin.

I’m a longtime lurker, only occasional poster/commenter on dKos, OpenLeft, MyDD and such.  I am a political geek and can chat about it for hours, but then that’s why I’m going to NN.  

bumped

My latest election contest is ready (cutting it close to the wire). I do this primarily by email, but thought I’d post here and open it up to others. Feel free to invite anyone who might be interested to enter, as long as they do so by about Noon PST Tuesday, Feb. 5.

INTRODUCTION

Finally, the Super Tuesday contest.  I’ll allow entries until about Noon PST Tuesday.  I’m not sure things will be any more clear in 26 hours than they are now.

There’s so much happening Tuesday that one could ask a bunch of different questions.  Please answer at least the main contest question and the tie breakers.

Some people have expressed interest in other questions, so those will follow.  They’ll be treated as separate contests and are optional.

MAIN CONTEST QUESTIONS

DEMOCRATIC PARTY CONTESTS

Primaries: AL, AS, AZ, AR, CA, CT, DE, GA, IL, MA, MO, NJ, NY, OK, TN, UT

Caucus/conventions: AK, CO, ID, KS, MN, NM, ND (also, DA begin voting) [Do not use in main question.]

AS = American Samoa

DA = Democrats Abroad

Main question — List the primary states won by each candidate, according to plurality popular vote (to make it easier to answer, “none” and “the rest” are acceptable answers):

Hillary Clinton:

Barack Obama:

Scoring – 1 point per pledged delegate at stake in each state you get right.

First Tie-breaker — List the number of pledged delegates each candidate will win on Feb. 5 (1,449 pledged delegates are at stake), including:

Hillary Clinton:

Barack Obama:

Second Tie- breaker — Who wins CA and by what percentage margin statewide?

REPUBLICAN PARTY CONTESTS

Primaries: AL, AZ, AR, CA, CT, DE, GA, IL, MA, MO, NJ, NY, OK, TN, UT

Caucus/conventions: AK, CO, DA, MN, MT, ND, WV [Do not use in main question.]

Main question — List the primary states won by each candidate, according to plurality popular vote:

Mike Huckabee:

Mitt Romney:

John McCain:

Ron Paul:

Scoring – 1 point per pledged delegate at stake in each state you get right.

First Tie-breaker — List the number of pledged delegates each candidate will win on Feb. 5 (836 pledged delegates are at stake):

Mike Huckabee:

Mitt Romney:

John McCain:

Ron Paul:

Second Tie-breaker — Who wins CA and by what percentage margin statewide, over which second place candidate (e.g., “Smith over Jones by 4%”)?

SUPPLEMENTAL QUESTIONS (OPTIONAL)

1) Which candidates, if any, drop out immediately (within 48 hours) after Feb. 5?

Democratic candidates (Clinton, Obama, Gravel):

Republican candidates (Huckabee, Romney, McCain, Paul):

2) Aggregate percentage of the vote in the Feb. 5 primary states?

Hillary Clinton:

Barack Obama:

Others:

Mike Huckabee:

Mitt Romney:

John McCain:

Ron Paul:

Others:

Some longer term questions:

4) On what date will the party’s nominee mathematically clinch the nomination (counting unpledged delegate endorsements)?

FYI REFERENCE INFO

DEMOCRATIC PARTY CONTESTS

Primaries: AL, AS, AZ, AR, CA, CT, DE, GA, IL, MA, MO, NJ, NY, OK, TN, UT

Caucus/conventions: AK, CO, ID, KS, MN, NM, ND (also, DA begin voting)

REPUBLICAN PARTY CONTESTS

Primaries: AL, AZ, AR, CA, CT, DE, GA, IL, MA, MO, NJ, NY, OK, TN, UT

Caucus/conventions: AK, CO, DA, MN, MT, ND, WV

Primary (not caucus) election states, with the number of Dem/GOP delegates at stake, by poll closing time (PST) and number of Dem delegates at stake:

4pm – GA (87/72)

5pm – IL (153/57), NJ (107/52), MA (93/40), MO (72/58), TN (68/52), AL (52/45), CT (48/27), OK (38/38), DE (15/18)

5:30pm – AR (35/34)

6pm – NY (232/87), AZ (56/50)

7pm – UT (23/36)

8pm – CA (370/170)

If the delegates don’t match what you see in the media, that’s because they often just list the total number delegates per state.  I am excluding each state’s unpledged delegates however, as they are not chosen in these primaries and are free to support any candidate they choose at the national conventions.

LINKS

Reference:

The Green Papers: http://www.thegreenpapers.com/…

2008 Democratic Convention Watch: http://demconwatch.blogspot.com/

CNN Dems: http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/20…

CNN GOP: http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/20…

Polling sites:

Pollster: http://pollster.com/

Real Clear Politics: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/ (right wing, but for these elections, their averages might be more useful than pollsters trends)