Allegheny Almanac

The Mathematics of the 2008 Presidential Election

As Pythagoras might have said, mathematics allows us to predict what will occur in the future. The father of mathematics and his followers figured that the world is round and that the earth revolves around the sun. This may not sound too startling to us now, but these predictions were at least a thousand years ahead of their time. Not a bad track record.

What are the mathematicians at RealClearPolitics and Pollster.com telling us now about Tuesday's election? Their data is painting a picture that is becoming quite recognizable. A Democrat will win the entire West Coast, the entire Northeast, most of the population of the Midwest and even parts of the South.

In Michigan, 98% of eligible voters are registered and Republicans have conceded the state to Obama. The Keystone State, Pennsylvania, may be emblematic of how the race will go. Pennsylvanians vote like midwesterners, southerners, and northerners, depending upon which part of the state you live in. Republicans deftly recognized the importance of this and successfully closed a large gap which will turn out to be too large to close. Even as you read this, Obama's lead has gone below double-digits. But a quick inspection of the vectors of the graph shows that Obama's polling is not decreasing even as McCain's numbers are surging. More people live in eastern PA and they will vote for Obama. More people in western PA will vote for McCain, but not enough to offset the east.

In the South, Democrats are

Making your own Apple Cider--with Pears

by Denise Grant

There’s something about fall that makes it one of my favorite times of the year.

It’s amazing how the look of the land changes when the leaves fall and the grasses die back. I walk one dirt road in NW PA almost daily and watch the seasons work its magic on the scenery. It’s like a new painting on canvas every day.