January 2009
1/1/2009 - Happy New Year. We hope that everyone had a good holdiay season.

We emailed this month's 50 practice questions to all subscribers of the January/February 2009 Practice Questions package. You can purchase the package at DebateChamps for the reduced price of $10.

December 2008
12/31/2008 - Within the next few days, we are going to make significant changes to the website. As mentioned in the past several weeks, you will not need a password to access features on the website.

12/28/2008 - On January 1, we are going to email the practice questions for January in the January/February package. The package is only $10 and can be purchased at DebateChamps. These practice questions are not placed in The Draw until two months after their original release, i.e. the questions emailed on January 1 will not be placed in the draw until March 1.

We are no longer doing a For the File feature. The past articles can be found in the For the File archive.

12/22/2008 - This week's podcast is posted. In it, we discuss the remaining 2008 Senate and House races, Obama's transition team, and recommended podcasts. This is the last podcast that will be posted to the website.

12/21/2008 - Today's For the File is posted. This is the last For the File that will be posted to the website.

12/19/2008 - This week's summary is posted. In it, we discuss the signing of the Convention on Cluster Munitions. This is the last summary that will be posted to the website.

Today's For the File is also posted.

12/18/2008 - Today's For the File is posted.

12/17/2008 - Today's For the File is posted.

12/16/2008 - At the beginning of the year, we are making significant changes to the website. All of the features on the website will be free. You will have full access to The Draw as well as previously posted summaries and podcasts. We, however, will post no new summaries or podcasts.

Due to these changes, we will no longer offer semester or annual memberships. The only product that we will continue to sell is our practice questions package. Our practice questions package provides you with 100 practice questions over a two-month period. The practice questions will be released in two 50-question batches at the 1st of the month. The package is only $10. The January/February package can be purchased at DebateChamps. These practice questions are not placed in The Draw until two months after their original release, i.e. practices questions emailed on January 1 will not be placed in the draw until March 1.

Today's For the File is posted.

12/15/2008 - This week's podcast is posted. In it, we discuss the remaining 2008 Senate and House races, Obama's transition team, and Blagojevich and auto bailouts.

Today's For the File is also posted.

12/13/2008 - We will not be able to post a For the File on Sunday. Therefore, we posted an extra For the File today.

12/12/2008 - This week's summary is posted. In it, we discuss the no nuke movement. Today's For the File is also posted.

12/11/2008 - Today's For the File is posted.

Here is our release schedule for the remainder of 2008. We will post summaries on December 12 and 19. We will post podcasts on December 15 and 22. We will post the final For the File on December 21.

12/10/2008 - Today's For the File is posted.

12/9/2008 - Today's For the File is posted.

12/8/2008 - This week's podcast is posted. In it, we discuss the remaining 2008 Senate and House races, Obama's transition team, and Obama's infrastructure plan.

Today's For the File is also posted.

12/7/2008 - We emailed this month's 50 practice questions to all subscribers of the November/December 2008 Practice Questions package. It is not too late to purchase this package. You can purchase the package at DebateChamps for the reduced price of $15. When you purchase this package, I will also email you the practice questions from November.

Today's For the File is posted.

12/5/2008 - This week's summary is posted. In it, we discuss the aftermath of the defeat of Proposition Eight. Today's For the File is also posted.

12/4/2008 - Today's For the File is posted.

12/3/2008 - Today's For the File is posted.

12/2/2008 - Today's For the File is posted.

12/1/2008 - We are back from the Thanksgiving weekend. I hope that everyone had a nice Thanksgiving.

We have added a lot to the site. This week's podcast is posted. In it, we look at the remaining Senate seats, Obama's transition, and the notion of change. This month's free practice questions are posted. We added about 75 questions to The Draw. We have also posted today's For the File.

November 2008
11/24/2008 - Due to Thanksgiving, there will be no podcast or summary this week. The next podcast will post on
December 1, and the next summary will post on December 5.

Today's For the File is posted. The next For the File will post on December 1.

We will release December's free practice questions on December 1.

11/23/2008 - Today's For the File is posted.

11/21/2008 - This week's summary is posted. In it, we provide discuss the D.C. school district, in particular Michelle Rhee's proposal to revamp the current seniority system. Today's For the File is also posted.

11/20/2008 - Today's For the File is posted.

11/19/2008 - Today's For the File is posted.

11/18/2008 - Today's For the File is posted.

11/17/2008 - This week's podcast is posted. In it, we discuss election updates, GOP demise, and Barack the vote. Today's For the File is also posted.

11/16/2008 - Today's For the File is posted.

11/14/2008 - I was unable to do today's For the File due to server issues. I think that this issue has been resolved.

This week's summary is posted. In it, we provide discuss current national education policy and possible changes with President-elect Obama.

11/13/2008 - Today's For the File is posted.

11/12/2008 - Today's For the File is posted.

11/11/2008 - Happy Veteran's Day. Today's For the File is posted.

11/10/2008 - Today's For the File is posted.

This week's podcast is posted. In it, we discuss election updates, Obama's agenda, and Lieberman's future.

This week's summary is posted. In it, we provide updates to prior summaries on Turkey and Thailand.

We also added 50 questions to The Draw.

11/9/2008 - The delayed summary will be posted tonight. Today's For the File is posted.

11/7/2008 - We emailed this month's 50 practice questions to all subscribers of the November/December 2008 Practice Questions package. It is not too late to purchase this package. You can purchase the package at DebateChamps for the reduced price of $15. When you purchase this package, I will also email you the practice questions from the September/October package for free.

This week's summary will be delayed until this weekend.

Today's For the File is posted.

11/6/2008 - Today's For the File is posted.

11/5/2008 - The special podcast is posted. In it, we discuss the elections results and surprises.

Last night, Barack Obama became the first African American to win the presidency. As of this morning, Obama received 61 million total votes compared to 54 million total votes for John McCain.

Looking at our predictions, we are currently 47 for 47 in the presidential election. The remaining states are Indiana, Missouri, North Carolina, and Nebraska's second congressional district. It appears that our predictions for Missouri and North Carolina will be correct, where McCain and Obama, respectively, are leading. We projected McCain to win Indiana, but he is currently losing that state.

We were correct in projecting McCain to win the popular vote in Nebraska, but the state divides its electoral votes between the winner of the state's popular vote and the winners of each congressional district. We predicted that McCain would win all of Nebraska's electoral votes (including the second congressional district), but Obama is currently leading in the second congressional district. If that lead holds, he will receive one of Nebraska's five electoral votes.

For a recap of our predictions for every state, click here.

In the Senate, we correctly predicted that McConnell, Wicker, Shaheen, and Hagan would win. Alaska, Minnesota, and Oregon are too close, although the Republican currently is leading in all three states. In Georgia, Chambliss has the lead, but he needs to receive more 50% of the vote to avoid a run-off. With 99% of the precincts reporting, he currently has 50%.

In the House, Democrats increased the size of their majority. Democrats have currently won 251 congressional districts. Republicans have won 171 districts. Thirteen congressional districts are undecided.

For Governors, we correctly predicted all of the races. Nixon won in Louisiana, Perdue won in North Carolina, and Gregoire won in Washington.

Today, we will have a special podcast to discuss yesterday's election results. Today's For the File is posted, which includes a number of headlines of Obama's victory from around the world.

11/4/2008 - After years of campaigning, after thousands of ads, and after millions spent, Americans finally head to the polls. Tomorrow, we will have a special podcast to breakdown all of the election results. After you vote today, head to Starbucks for free coffee, Krispy Kreme for free donuts, and Ben & Jerry's for free ice cream.

Today's For the File is posted.

11/3/2008 - Today's For the File and this week's podcast are posted. In the podcast, we make our predictions for the Presidency, Senate, House, and Governors.

Here is the summary of our 2008 Election Predictions:

PRESIDENT:
Obama/Biden - 353 (28 states won, including D.C.)
McCain/Palin - 185 (23 states won)

For predictions for every state, click here.

SENATE:
DEM - 59 (including Sanders and Lieberman)
GOP - 41

HOUSE:
DEM - 253
GOP - 182

GOVERNORS:
DEM - 29
GOP - 21

11/2/2008 - We posted this month's free extemp questions as well as today's For the File.

In tomorrow's podcast, we are going to make our predictions for this year's elections.

October 2008
10/26/2008 - In an effort to improve our service, we
have added trial pages as a substitute for our two-day, free memberships.
You will now be able to view pages that are similar to our current subscription
packages without having to request a temporary log in/password.

10/24/2008 - This week's summary is now posted. In this summary, we discuss Iceland's faltering economy. Today's For the File is also posted.

One economic index that you may have recently heard of is the TED spread. Without getting into the technical details, the TED spread tracks the amount of lending in the credit market. A TED spread of less than 1 generally means that lending is plentiful in the credit market. Between January 2004 and August 2008, the TED spread was under 1 (Understanding the TED Spread, Sept. 28, 2008). Since September, the TED spread has skyrocketed, reaching a high of 4.63 on October 10 (Bloomberg.com). At that time, there was virtually no lending in the credit market. As a result of a number of proposals from nations around the world, including the United States’ credit infusion plan, the TED spread has declined and the availability of credit has slowly increased. As of today, the TED spread had dropped to 2.54. You can monitor the TED Spread at Bloomberg.com.

10/23/2008 - Today's For the File is posted. This week's summary should be posted tonight, or tomorrow morning.

10/22/2008 - Today's For the File is posted.

10/21/2008 - I wanted to remind everyone that the site will not be updated next week. Tournament directors, if you want questions this weekend or next weekend, you must email me by Wednesday.

Today's For the File is posted.

10/20/2008 - This week's podcast is posted. In it, we discuss why last week went to Obama, factors that could create a landslide win or a close election, the recent toss-up state polls, and a recap of Senate races. Today's For the File is posted.

10/19/2008 - Today's For the File is posted.

10/17/2008 - This week's summary is now posted. In this summary, we discuss the recently proposed GM - Chrysler merger. Today's For the File is also posted.

10/16/2008 - Today's For the File is posted.

We will be on vacation from October 23 through November 2. We do not believe that we will have internet access, so the site will most likely not be updated during that period. There will be no For the File, weekly podcast, or summary. I will try to post next week's summary on Thursday, Oct. 23. Our next podcast will be on November 3.

Coaches, if you would like tournament questions for the Nov. 1 weekend, please let me know by Monday, Oct. 21.

10/15/2008 - Today's For the File is posted.

I know that I mentioned the Planet Money earlier this month, but it has really good daily podcasts on the economic crisis. They are extremely informative and easy to understand. I know that you can download the podcasts through iTunes, but I am sure there are other sources as well.

10/14/2008 - Today's For the File is posted.

10/13/2008 - This week's podcast is posted. In it, we discuss why last week went to Obama, the beginnings of the Culture War, and the recent toss-up state polls. Today's For the File is posted.

We added 50 questions to The Draw, and Today's For the File is posted.

10/12/2008 - Today's For the File is posted.

10/11/2008 - There will be no more For the File on Saturday. We will instead add some more links to Sunday's For the File.

10/10/2008 - This week's summary is now posted. In this summary, we discuss the Somali pirates. Today's For the File is also posted.

10/9/2008 - Today's For the File is posted.

If you want a great podcast explaining the bailout, the need for the bailout, and an alternative to the bailout, check out the free podcast from This American Life. The podcast can be downloaded through iTunes, but you have to do so by Sunday because that is when they put up their new podcast.

Another podcast to consider is from Planet Money, who helped with the This American life podcast. They have been putting out free, daily podcasts about the economic crisis. You can download the Planet Money podcasts through iTunes.

10/8/2008 - Today's For the File is posted.

10/7/2008 - Today's For the File is posted.

10/6/2008 - This week's podcast is posted. In it, we discuss why last week went to Obama, the beginnings of the Culture War, and the recent toss-up state polls. Today's For the File is posted.

Tomorrow, we are emailing this month's 50 practice questions to all subscribers of the September/October 2008 Practice Questions package. It is not too late to purchase this package. You can purchase the package at DebateChamps. When you purchase this package, I will email you this month's and last month's practice questions.

10/5/2008 - Today's For the File is posted.

10/4/2008 - We have posted this month's free extemp questions. There will be no For the File today.

10/3/2008 - This week's summary is now posted. In this summary, we discuss Russia's military.

Today's For the File is posted. This week's summary will be posted in the afternoon.

10/2/2008 - Today's For the File is posted.

10/1/2008 - Today's For the File is posted.

September 2008
9/30/2008 - Today's For the File is posted.

9/29/2008 - Today's For the File is posted.

9/28/2008 - This week's podcast is posted. In it, we discuss why last week went to Obama, the effects of foreclosures on voting, and the recent toss-up state polls. Today's For the File is posted. We also added 50 questions to The Draw.

Due to unforeseen circumstances, I did not have enough time to write this week's summary. Therefore, we will not have a summary this week, but there will be a summary on Friday.

9/26/2008 - This week's summary will be posted this weekend, most likely on Sunday. I am sorry for the delay. Today's For the File, however, is posted.

9/25/2008 - Today's For the File is posted.

9/24/2008 - Today's For the File is posted.

9/23/2008 - Today's For the File is posted.

9/22/2008 - This week's podcast is posted. In it, we discuss why last week went to McCain and mention the toss-up state polls. Also, today's For the File is posted.

9/21/2008 - Today's For the File is posted.

9/20/2008 - Today's For the File is posted.

9/19/2008 - We posted this week's summary. In this summary, we discuss Tzipi Livni's recent election as leader of Kadima. We also posted today's For the File.

9/18/2008 - Today's For the File is posted.

9/17/2008 - Today's For the File is posted.

9/16/2008 - This week's podcast is posted. In it, we discuss why last week went to McCain and mention the toss-up state polls. Also, today's For the File is posted.

It appears that all of today's articles from the Wall Street Journal are now posted online. Previously, you had to pay to read most of the articles.

9/15/2008 - Today's For the File is posted. This week's podcast will be posted tonight, including a number of links to the problems with Lehman, Merrill, and AIG.

9/14/2008 - Today's For the File is posted.

9/13/2008 - Today's For the File is posted.

9/12/2008 - We posted this week's summary. In this summary, we discuss Evo Morales' recent referendum victory in Bolivia. We also posted today's For the File.

9/11/2008 - Today's For the File is posted.

9/10/2008 - Today's For the File is posted.

9/9/2008 - This week's podcast is posted. In it, we mention the national and toss-up state polls. Also, today's For the File is posted.

9/8/2008 - Today's For the File is posted. This week's podcast will be posted tonight.

9/7/2008 - We emailed this month's 50 practice questions to all subscribers of the September/October 2008 Practice Questions package. It is not too late to purchase this package. You can purchase the package at DebateChamps. I will email you the questions the day of your purchase.

9/6/2008 - Today's For the File is posted. There will not be a For the File on Sunday. I will include some extra links on Monday.

9/5/2008 - We have posted the first summary for the new school year. The topic of this summary is Kaoru Fukuda's resignation as prime minister of Japan. We have also posted today's For the File.

9/4/2008 - We have posted the first daily For the File.

VP nominee Sarah Palin addressed Republican delegates last night following a flurry of news coverage within the past few days. Palin addressed her critics and highlighted her qualifications for the vice presidency. Given the reaction at the convention, you would not have known that there were any controversies.

Palin's speech understandably dominated today's news. The New York Times and UK Guardian said that she, respectively, "electrifie[d]" and "storm[ed]" the convention. The Sydney Morning Herald called her "Pitbull Palin."

It remains to be seen whether she was successful or whether the controversies will overshadow her and, more importantly, McCain. Then again, these controversies may fade away as the general public refocuses on McCain and Obama. A full text of the speech can be found here.

9/3/2008 - We have made a few updates to the site. This week's For the File is now posted. Starting tomorrow, we will resume the daily For the File.

In addition, we added the first questions to The Draw and provided this month's sample questions.

August 2008
8/31/2008 - The new podcast has been posted. In it, we discuss the conventions and the veep selections.

On Wednesday, we will release some new extemp questions, update The Draw, and post For the File. On Thursday, we will resume our daily For the File. On Friday, we will post our next summary.

8/27/2008 - This week's For the File is now posted below.

8/20/2008 - This week's For the File is now posted below.

8/16/2008 - I hope that everyone had a great summer. Starting September 1, we will kick off the new school year with a new podcast and new Draw questions. Later that week, we will release our first summary. Send me an email if you want a free, two day membership.

8/13/2008 - This week's For the File is now posted below.

8/6/2008 - This week's For the File is now posted below.

July 2008
7/30/2008 - This week's For the File is now posted below.

7/23/2008 - This week's For the File is now posted below.

7/16/2008 - This week's For the File is now posted below.

7/9/2008 - This week's For the File is now posted below.

7/2/2008 - This week's For the File is now posted below.

June 2008
6/25/2008 - Over the summer, we will do a weekly update of the For the File section. This update will occur every Wednesday and will cover all of the major newspapers and periodicals.

6/24/2008 - Due to technical difficulties, I am going to stop doing the podcast for the next few weeks. In this week's podcast, I intended on mentioning recent poll numbers and discussing Obama's decision to opt out of public financing. With regard to polls, the McCain-Obama race is close. Although a recent Newsweek poll suggested a 15 point Obama lead, all other recent polls show only a 4 to 6 point lead. That lead is narrower in battleground states, such as Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. In Ohio, McCain has a 1 point lead, while Obama has a 4 point lead in Pennsylvania and a 2 point lead in Virginia. One interesting contest to watch is Georgia, where Bob Barr will try to play the spoiler. McCain was expected to win Georgia, but McCain has only a 1 point lead in the state when Barr is factored into the race.

The most important event in the presidential campaign within the past few weeks was Obama's decision to opt out of public financing. Obama is now the first main presidential candidate to opt out of public financing since the system began in the early 1970s. McCain has accepted public funding and will receive a check for approximately 84 million. Because Obama has opted out of public financing, he can raise his own funds, which should greatly exceed 84 million. Obama has justified the move by claiming that these contributions will balance out issue ads by private parties, such as the Swift Boat attack ads.

Obama's decision could greatly affect the logistics of each campaign. With the additional cash, Obama could make himself competitive in a number of states that he may not have contested otherwise. In addition, Obama could contest states that he is expected to lose simply to require McCain to spend time and resources to win those states. However, Obama's decision could backfire as he previously announced his support for public financing. McCain has already launched an online video criticizing Obama's decision.

Regardless of its effect on this presidential election, it is interesting to consider how Obama's decision affects campaign finance reform. By opting out of public financing, Obama may have stymied additional campaign finance reform should he become the next president. It is difficult to see how Obama could argue for public funding when he was the first main presidential candidate to reject such funds.

6/21/2008 - Congratulations to Rebecca Goldstein, the NFL-US extemp champion, and Akshar Rambachan, the NFL-INTL extemp champion. Both finals were extremely competitive, and all extempers should be proud with their performances.

The finals topic area in US was America, and the finals topic area in INTL was The World. I thought that the INTL questions were very good. I was disappointed with the US questions. With the exception of one question (Whether the US was becoming more big brother), I thought that the US questions were repetitive and recycled from the topic areas of US Foreign Policy, Home Security and Military Defense, and The Wars. I would be extremely curious of the questions that the US finalists threw back. If you were a US finalist, send me an email with the questions that you threw back.

See you at next year's NFL tournament in Birmingham.

6/19/2008 - It was great meeting all of the coaches and students at registration. I have updated the NFL-US and
NFL-INTL pages to include the names of most of the extempers. However, there were some districts where it was too hard to determine the extempers. If you know the names of any of the these extempers, please send me an email at the
Contact Us page. Also, please email me if there are any mistakes or misspellings. 6/13/2008 - Tomorrow morning, I leave for Vegas. Good luck to all NFL competitors.

6/9/2008 - This week's podcast is now posted.

6/4/2008 - Due to the results of the South Dakota and Montana primaries and the 30+ superdelegate pickup, Obama crossed the 2117 delegate total necessary to become the presumptive Democratic nominee. As of this evening, another 15 superdelegates have backed Obama.

While some analysts claimed that Obama "clinched" the nomination, those pronouncements must be tempered. More than 400 of Obama's delegates are superdelegates. These superdelegates are not bound to Obama and can switch their allegiance. Although Obama most likely will receive the Democratic nomination, it would take less than 100 superdelegates to switch to give Clinton the lead.

Last night's primaries were a split decision. Clinton had a solid win in South Dakota (55% to 45%), while Obama had a solid win Montana (57% to 41%). Clinton ended with a net gain of one delegate. Here are the exit polls from South Dakota and Montana.

6/3/2008 - This week's podcast is now posted. In it, we predict a Clinton victory in South Dakota (60% to 37%) and an Obama victory in Montana (51% to 48%).

It is rumored that Clinton may suspend her campaign tonight. As I mentioned in the podcast, I was kind of surprised by that report. I can see the reasons for staying in the race and for exiting the race. Ultimately, if she does not suspend her campaign tonight, I think that she will leave the race by the end of the week.

6/2/2008 - Clinton won big in Puerto Rico by a margin of 68% to 32%. As a result, Clinton earned 38 delegates compared to Obama's 17 delegates. Here is the exit poll from Puerto Rico.

Clinton's win follows her 24-delegate gain after the Democratic Rules and Bylaws Committee reduced Michigan and Florida delegates in half, although Clinton obviously wanted these delegates to be counted in full.

6/1/2008 - The final summary is now posted. In it, we discuss the effects of the California Supreme Court's recent decision regarding same-sex marriages.

May 2008
5/30/2008 - The final summary for the school year will be delayed until Sunday.

5/29/2008 - The trial pages that were available during the CFL tournament have been deleted.

5/28/2008 - We added new questions to the NFL-US and NFL-INTL Draws. You can find a list of all of the new questions can be found directly to the right.

The podcast is now posted. In Puerto Rico, we predict a Clinton victory of 59% to 40%.

5/27/2008 - I just got back from the CFL national tournament, where I talked with a number of the extempers and coaches. Here is this week's schedule. By tomorrow morning, this week's podcast should be up. By tomorrow night, I will do the final update of the NFL-US and NFL-INTL Draws. By Thursday morning, I am going to end the trial pages that I activated during the CFL tournament. By Friday afternoon, I will post the last summary. I have not yet picked a topic, so email me know if there is a topic that you want covered.

5/25/2008 - I put this up a few days ago, but it was deleted by accident. With all of the talk about electability, I wanted to see the latest poll numbers for a McCain-Clinton match up and a McCain-Obama match up in terms of the electoral college. I found all of the poll data at pollster.com.

The charts have some limitations. For example, some of the poll results are dated. Also, we assigned delegates to a candidate who was winning a state by more than two points and did not assign delegates to either candidate if the margin was two points or less. A margin of three points would most likely be within the poll's margin of error.

That said, the data shows that Clinton has the slightly better argument regarding electability. She has 310 assigned delegates compared to McCain's 200 assigned delegates, whereas Obama has 230 assigned delegates compared to McCain's 248 assigned delegates. Moreover, with the exception of Iowa, Clinton is polling better than Obama in the battle-ground states of Ohio, Missouri, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Indiana.

5/21/2008 - As most analysts suspected, last night's primary results were a split decision. Clinton won big in Kentucky (65% to 30%), while Obama had a solid victory in Oregon (58% to 42%) with 84% of the votes counted. As of this morning, Clinton won more pledged delegates (51 to 35), although 17 pledged delegates from Oregon have still not been determined. Here are the exit polls from Kentucky and Oregon.

We added new questions to the NFL-US and NFL-INTL Draws. You can find a list of all of the new questions can be found directly to the right. We will update both draws one more time on June 4.

5/20/2008 - The new summary is now posted. In it, we discuss the classification of foreign terrorist organizations and judicial review of those executive branch classifications.

5/19/2008 - This week's podcast is posted. We predict a Clinton win in Kentucky (64% to 31%), and an Obama victory in Oregon (53% to 46%). We also predict that Clinton will stay in the race.

5/16/2008 - We decided to keep the site for free for at least a few more days to allow CFL qualifiers to use The Draw.

We also decided that there will be no summary next week due to CFLs. Therefore, we decided to delay this week's summary until Monday. After CFLs, there will be one more summary on June 6.

5/14/2008 - As expected, Hillary Clinton had a huge win in the West Virginia primary (67% to 26%), and she has vowed to continue her campaign. Here is the exit poll for West Virginia.

We have also added new questions to the CFL, NFL-US, and NFL-INTL Draws. You can find a list of all of the new questions can be found directly to the right.

5/13/2008 - We predict a Clinton win in West Virginia (68% to 31%) and that she will stay in the race.

5/12/2008 - This week's podcast is posted.

5/9/2008 - This week's summary is posted. In it, we discuss the summer gas tax holiday proposals.

5/8/2008 - We added new questions to the CFL, NFL-US, and NFL-INTL Draws. You can find a list of all of the new questions can be found directly to the right.

5/7/2008 - As most analysts suspected, last night's primary results were a split decision. Clinton narrowly won in Indiana (51% to 49%), while Obama had a much larger victory in North Carolina (56% to 42%). Despite the split decision, Obama won more delegates (91 to 79) to only increase his lead in the delegate count. Here are the exit polls:  Ind.   N.C.

5/6/2008 - The questions in the NFL-INTL Draw have been added. We will update the CFL, NFL-US, and NFL-INTL Draws once week up to the tournaments.

5/5/2008 - This week's podcast is now posted. We predict a Clinton win in Indiana (53% to 46%) and an Obama win in North Carolina (56% to 43%). We further predict that Clinton will stay in the race if she wins Indiana.

This week's podcast should be posted later this afternoon.

We also added questions to the NFL-US Draw. We are working on adding questions to the NFL-INTL Draw. Those questions should be up today or tomorrow.

5/2/2008 - This week's summary is posted. In it, we discuss the farmers revolt in Argentina.

Yesterday, NFL released the topic areas for the national tournament. You can find the topics here. By Monday, I will add questions to each of The Draws on the NFL-US and NFL-INTL pages.

April 2008
4/30/2008 - We added new questions to the CFL Draw. You can find a list of all of the new questions can be found directly to the right.

4/28/2008 - There will be no podcast this week. The next podcast will be next Monday.

Because there is no podcast and because I did not update For the File over the weekend, today's For the File has many more links.

4/24/2008 - This week's summary is now posted. In it, we discuss the partisan battle over the Colombian free trade agreement.

This week's summary will be posted this afternoon.

4/23/2008 - Clinton won yesterday's Pennsylvania primary by a 55% to 45% margin, but had only a six net delegate gain. Here is the CNN exit poll. Clinton will certainly stay in the race with her 10 point win, but the question is whether her win was large enough to raise campaign contributions. Clinton hopes that this win demonstrated that Obama cannot stand up to scrutiny and is not electable.

We added new questions to the CFL Draw. You can find a list of all of the new questions can be found directly to the right.

4/21/2008 - This week's podcast is now posted. In it, we discuss the Pennsylvania primary.

This week's podcast should be posted in the afternoon. Our prediction for Pennsylvania is Clinton - 53%, Obama - 46%. 4/18/2008 - The new summary is posted. In it, we discuss the Delta-Northwest merger and its effects on the other airlines and on passengers.

This week's summary should be posted sometime this afternoon.

Because I was away last week, I was unable to place links to magazine articles in the For the File section. Therefore, I decided today to do our largest For the File update, which includes articles from today's newspapers as well as articles from magazines for the past two weeks.

4/16/2008 - We added over 150 questions to the Draw and to the CFL Draw. We will not update the questions in The Draw again this school year. We will, however, continue to update questions in the CFL Draw and both NFL Draws.

4/15/2008 - In one week, Pennsylvanians will break a seven week primary draught and head to the polls. A few days ago, most polls showed Barack Obama narrowing Hillary Clinton's lead in the state to a few points. Within the past few days, Clinton seized on Obama's comments that some voters were "bitter." Regardless of whether this was an accurate representation of Obama's comments, it appears that Clinton has used these comments to increase her lead. In fact, an ARG poll yesterday showed Clinton with a 20 point lead.

It should be noted, however, that the polls this primary season have not always been accurate. I doubt that Clinton currently has a 20 point lead in Pennsylvania. Right now, I think that she probably has a 10 to 12 point lead, similar to primary results in Ohio.

4/14/2008 - I am back from a restful vacation and plan to update the site through NFLs. I added the names of NFL qualifiers for several districts. If the names of the qualifiers are not listed for your NFL or CFL district, please provide me with the names, and I will post them to the site immediately.

This will be the last weekend that I provide free extemp questions for tournaments. After this weekend, all of the questions that I write will be placed in The Draw. If you would like questions for this weekend, please send me an email by Wednesday.

4/4/2008 - The new summary is now posted. In it, we discuss the Supreme Court's consideration of D.C.'s handgun ban.

As I mentioned earlier this week, I will be on vacation starting tomorrow and lasting all next week. During this period, I will not make any updates to the site, which includes the summary that I originally intended to place on the site next Friday.

4/2/2008 - Today at noon is the deadline to receive extemp questions for the weekends of April 5 or 12.

March 2008
3/31/2008 - This week's podcast is now posted.

I will be on vacation all next week in the Caribbean. We will have summaries for both weeks, but there will be no podcast. Also, if you are interested in tournament questions for the weekend of April 12, you have to have your request in by this Wednesday. I will write separate questions for the weekend of the 5th and 12th.

I may have periodic access to email while on vacation, and I will try to timely respond to those emails. In any event, I will respond to any email the following week.

3/28/2008 - This week's summary is now posted. In it, we discuss the upcoming Zimbabwe presidential election. Interestingly, right after I finished the summary, I read an article where President Mugabe was giving away free cars for votes.

I also wanted to correct that the Curveball footage tonight is on BBC Newsnight, not BBC News America.

3/27/2008 - On Friday, BBC News America is doing an interview with Curveball. Curveball was the code name for the Iraqi defector who claimed that Saddam Hussein was building weapons of mass destruction. The information provided by Curveball, who was later disavowed, served as the primary basis for the US invasion of Iraq. There was a great book released last year on Curveball, which we reviewed in an early podcast.

3/26/2008 - We are proud to offer a free coaching session to ten extempers. You can find out more information on this page.

The deadline for receiving extemp questions for this weekend in Wednesday at noon. Send us an email at the Contact Us page if you are interested.

3/24/2008 - This week's podcast is posted. In it, we look at last week's events in the 2008 presidential race. We also start a new feature, titled Veep Watch, where we will discuss vice presidential possibilities.

We also added about 50 questions to The Draw and to
The CFL Draw.

3/21/2008 - This week's summary is now posted, a little earlier than expected. In the summary, we discuss the recent selection of Raul Castro as president of Cuba.

This week's summary will be posted later today; most likely in the evening, earlier if possible.

CFL and NFL tournament directors - Please send us the names of the extempers who qualify for nationals. We are acknowledging all qualifiers for their hard work and success. 3/20/2008 - We added a poll to the home page. The current poll is on McCain's selection for vice president.

3/19/2008 - The two biggest stories yesterday was the Federal Reserve's three-quarters of a point rate cut and Barack Obama's speech on race. Regarding the rate cut, we placed several great articles in the For the File section, including a background of the credit crisis.

Obama's speech has been very favorably reviewed. Some have compared the speech to Martin Luther King, Jr.'s I Have a Dream Speech and John Kennedy's Catholicism speech. Others, however, have suggested that the speech fell short. It remains to be seen whether the speech can catapult Obama to the nomination or whether the speech was simply another turn in a roller coaster race.

3/18/2008 - The deadline for receiving extemp questions for this weekend in Wednesday at noon. Send us an email at the Contact Us page if you are interested.

The Federal Reserve is expected to lower interest rates today following the problems at Bear Sterns and the credit markets in general. As a result, we included a number of links about the credit crisis in the For the File section below.

3/17/2008 - This week's podcast is now posted.

3/15/2008 - We added over 100 questions to The Draw and to The CFL Draw.

3/14/2008 - This week's summary is now posted. This summary discusses different strategies presidential candidates consider when making his or her vice presidential selection.

3/12/2008 - As expected, Barack Obama had a solid win yesterday in the Mississippi primary. As a result, he increased his lead over Hillary Clinton by six delegates. Here is the exit poll from Mississippi.

Tournament directors, today at noon is the deadline for receiving questions for this weekend. Simply send me an email at the contact us page.

3/11/2008 - We are proud to announce three new pages dedicated to CFLs and NFLs. We have a page for the CFL national tournament and two pages for the NFL tournament (US and INTL). Each page will have a simulated draw with the topic areas used at the respective tournament, logistical information, and the names of all of the competitors.

Because we are listing the names of all of the competitors, we are asking tournament directors, coaches, and students to email us the names of the qualifiers. You can send us the names by email on the Contact Us page.

The Draw on the CFL page is fully functional. The Draw for both NFL pages is not functional because NFL has not announced its topic areas. Once NFL announces its topic areas, we will post questions for each area. The questions for all three Draws (once NFL announces its topic areas) will be constantly updated.

3/10/2008 -The new podcast has been posted. In it, we make our prediction for Mississippi (Obama - 54%, Clinton - 45%) and look at the notion of electability.

We also added about 40 questions to each of the US and International sections of The Draw.

3/7/2008 - This week's summary is now posted. The topic is the upcoming Iranian parliamentary elections.

Given the small margin between Obama and Clinton, Democrats are trying to figure out what to do with the delegates from Florida and Michigan. The Democratic party has refused to allow these delegates to the convention because these two states broke party rules by moving up their primaries. Clinton won in both states, although none of the other candidates campaigned in either state. Clinton wants the prior results to be recognized, especially because Obama's name was not on the Michigan ballot. By contrast, Obama does not want the results to be recognized and probably does not want a new election in either state, both of which would probably favor Clinton.

Despite Clinton's and Obama's wishes, the most likely outcome is that both states will re-vote and the delegates will be based on the re-vote. Given the demographics of Michigan and Florida, Clinton would probably win both states as the race stands today. Her margin of victory, or her defeat, obviously would depend on upcoming events. Michigan and Florida are currently investigating the possibility of holding a new election.

3/6/2008 - Today is the deadline to ask for extemp questions for this weekend.

3/5/2008 - This week's extra podcast is now posted.

Last night, McCain became the presumptive Republican nominee, and Clinton resurrected her campaign by winning three of four states. Huckabee officially withdrew from the race, and Obama proclaimed that he and his supporters were "on our way to winning this nomination" We will post a special podcast on the site today to break down last night's results.

Here are the Democratic exit polls:
Ohio   Texas   Rhode Island   Vermont

3/4/2008 - Voters head to the polls in several states today, most notably in Texas and Ohio. Today's results could signify the end or the resurgence of the Clinton campaign. Some of the most recent polls suggest that Clinton has retaken the lead in Texas and increased her lead in Ohio. A win in both states would certainly slow the Obama momentum and give new life to the ailing Clinton campaign. As we know, however, the polls for the Democratic race have not been entirely accurate.

Even if Clinton does not win both Texas and Ohio, she has hinted that she will stay in the race. As I mentioned in the podcast, I think that she will stay in the race if she wins either Texas or Ohio. I think that Ohio is particularly important because (1) Ohio may be the swing state in the general election and (2) the results in Ohio may be a precursor to the results in its neighbor, Pennsylvania.

If Clinton loses in both Texas and Ohio, she mostly likely would end her campaign.

3/3/2008 - This week's podcast is now posted, and we updated the questions in The Draw. We also have several big updates that we are going to release this week.

3/2/2008 - The podcast should be posted later tonight or tomorrow. Here are our predictions for Texas, Ohio, Rhode Island, and Vermont. McCain should receive 60% or more in all four states. The Democratic, as you know, are much closer. We think that Obama will win Texas (projected split - 52% to 47%) and Vermont (60% to 38%) and that Clinton will win Ohio (52% to 47%) and Rhode Island (55% to 45%). With her win in Ohio, we think that Clinton will stay in the race and make a huge push for Pennsylvania.

3/1/2008 - Two summaries were posted this week. We will be putting up our next podcast by Monday. We will break down the upcoming elections in Texas and Ohio.

February 2008
2/29/2008 - This week's summary is now posted.

Happy Birthday to all of the leaplings out there. This week's summary will be posted at noon. 2/28/2008 - It goes without saying that races in Texas and Ohio are extremely close. Between February 24 and 27, Pollster.com lists eight polls for Texas. Obama leads in four of the polls, Clinton leads in three of the polls, and they are tied in the final poll. During that same period, Pollster.com lists five polls for Ohio. Clinton leads in all five polls. On the Republican side, McCain has substantial leads in both states, although Huckabee will have a respectable showing with around 30% or more.

Ralph Nader may be the only "big-name" third party candidate. Michael Bloomberg has decided not to run for the presidency as an independent.

2/27/2008 - Less than one week to the Texas and Ohio (and Rhode Island) elections. The most recent polls show Obama leading in Texas and Clinton leading in Ohio. The question now is whether a loss in either Texas or Ohio would be fatal to the Clinton campaign. We will discuss all of the possible scenarios in our podcast this weekend.

2/26/2008 - The newest summary is now on the site. The topic is the three drug cocktail that is used for lethal injection in more than thirty states. We apologize for the delay. We intend to put up another summary on Friday on the political stalemate in Lebanon.

Tournament directors, it is not too late to get questions for this weekend. Just send us an email at the Contact Us page.

2/25/2008 - Given that there were no primaries or caucuses in the upcoming week, we decided not to do a podcast this week. Our next podcast will be next Monday when we make our Texas and Ohio (and Rhode Island) predictions.

We also started a new contest. We are offering a five pack of online coaching to one extemper. The only requirements are that you have access to a webcam and that your forensic coaching and parent/guardian approves. The deadline is
March 13.

2/22/2008 - We decided to delay the posting of this week's summary to early next week. We wanted to do some more research before releasing it. Therefore, we will release two summaries next week. If you have any suggestions for topics for the second summary, send us an email at the contact us page. Have a good weekend.

2/21/2008 - We will post this week's summary on the site tomorrow. This week's summary looks at the political stalemate in Lebanon.

2/20/2008 - This week's extra podcast is now posted.

This week's podcast should be placed on the site later today. In it, we will discuss last night's results with a brief look forward to Texas and Ohio.

For the Republicans, McCain claimed the party's nominations, although he technically does not have a majority of delegates. As a result, McCain can officially shift his attention away from Huckabee and on to the general election. Huckabee will now have to decide when he wants to withdraw from the race.

For the Democrats, Obama continued his winning streak with solid victories in the Wisconsin primary and Hawaii caucus. This sets the stage for Texas and Ohio, where Clinton has invested significant time and hopes to turn her campaign around. Although Clinton would technically have enough delegates to try to get nomination at the convention, a loss in Texas and/or Ohio may effectively end her campaign.

Here are the exit polls from Wisconsin:  Dem.   GOP

2/19/2008 - We updated the US and International questions in The Draw. If you are hosting a tournament this weekend, please let me know if you need questions for the tournament. Just click on Contact Us.

Tonight, Obama and McCain look to continue their winning streaks. Although several polls showed Huckabee and Clinton narrowing the lead, a poll released yesterday showed Obama and McCain with comfortable margins, around 10%. The more interesting poll from yesterday was in Texas, where Clinton has a narrow 50% to 48% lead over Obama. A good showing tonight would give Obama even more momentum heading into Texas.

In world news, Fidel Castro stepped down after serving nearly 50 years as president of Cuba. His brother Raul will be his successor. In Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf suffered a huge defeat in parliamentary elections as his party, the PML-Q, will gain only about 30 to 40 seats, approximately 15 to 20% of parliament. The PPP, formerly led by Benazir Bhutto, will gain the largest share of seats in parliament, followed by the
PML-N led by Nawaz Sharif.

2/18/2008 - Today is the federal holiday of Washington's Birthday, not President's Day. Some of you may have off from work/school for this holiday. If you do, I hope that you enjoy your day off. If not, I am sure that you will have a day off coming up soon.

While today is a federal holiday in the U.S., there is alot of tension in Pakistan as voters head to the polls. Parties opposed to President Musharraf are expected to do well. If this is the case, it will be interesting whether Musharraf accepts the election results or stages a third coup.

We decided against doing a podcast this weekend. The big election stories within the past few days were several high profile endorsements for McCain, including Mitt Romney and former President Bush; some superdelegate defections from Clinton; and the upcoming Hawaii caucuses and Wisconsin primaries. For a great article on the Democratic superdelegates, check out this New York Times graphic.

In Hawaii, I think that McCain and Obama will easily win.

In Wisconsin, however, the races could be very close. For the Republicans, despite the recent endorsements for McCain, polls show that Huckabee is gaining ground on McCain. For the Democrats, the polls have split. Most of the recent polls have placed Obama in the lead, but the most recent ARG poll placed Clinton in the lead.

In the end, we think that McCain and Obama will have narrow victories. We predict McCain will get 49% to Huckabee's 45%. We predict Obama will have 50% to Clinton's 47%.

We will do a podcast on Wednesday to analyze the Hawaii and Wisconsin results and to look forward to Texas, Ohio, and Rhode Island.

2/15/2008 - The big story yesterday was the tragic events at Northern Illinois University, reminiscent of the tragic events at Virginia Tech. Our thoughts go out to the victim's families and friends as well as to Northern Illinois University community.

This week's summary is now posted. The topic is the recently proposed treaty to ban weapons in outer space. The UK Guardian has a great flash program detailing how a missile defense shield works. You can view the flash program here.

In our summary, we decided not to discuss that the treaty is also the product of a fear that nations could destroy peaceful outer space objects, such as satellites. Last year, the international community was surprised when China launched a missile to destroy one of its satellites. Coincidentally, today's Washington Post and New York Times have articles discussing a U.S. plan to shoot down of its satellites. I have included a link to the Washington Post article in the the For the File section below.

2/14/2008 - We will put up the next summary tomorrow. The summary will cover a proposed ban of weapons in space. Also, tournament directors please contact me by today if you would like questions for this weekend.

2/13/2008 - This week's extra podcast is now posted.

The Obama sweep continued in the Potomac primaries as he won each state with at least 60%. John McCain also had a good night as we won all three states as well. Although Virginia was close, McCain won handily in D.C. and Maryland. We will post an extra podcast to site today to break down the results from the Potomac primaries.

Here are the exit polls from last night:
Maryland:  Dem.   GOP

Virginia:  Dem.   GOP

2/12/2008 - Voters in D.C., Maryland, and Virginia head to the polls today. The most recent polls show Obama and McCain with substantial margins in all states, with the exception of Virginia for McCain. Although McCain is leading in Virginia, Huckabee's current support could be as high as 40%. A Huckabee win in Virginia would not be completely surprising given the large conservative base in the southern part of the state. A Huckabee win, though, would certainly continue to highlight McCain's weakness with conservative voters.

2/11/2008 - Barack Obama was able to complete the weekend sweep as he handily won the Maine caucus with 59% of the vote. Obama is expected to due well the rest of this month. The possible exception may be in Wisconsin, where an early poll has given the slight edge to Clinton. Being from Wisconsin, though, I think that Obama will win the state.

A few more wins would give Obama momentum heading into March 4, when Ohio, Texas, and Rhode Island hold their elections. Clinton has banked heavily on Ohio and Texas as they have lots of delegates, and her message seems to appeal to these two states, particularly Ohio. Her decision to replace her campaign manager demonstrates that she is going to fight hard there.

Obama has not done extremely well in larger states. Unlike the prior large states, however, Obama will have more time to compete in Ohio and Texas. This extra time, coupled with his likely February momentum, may give Obama an excellent opportunity to win one or both of these large states.

2/10/2008 - This week's podcast is now online. In it, we break down the Saturday results and predict the upcoming Potomac primaries. We also updated the questions in The Draw.

Barack Obama and Mike Huckabee were the big winners in yesterday's elections. Obama had a sweep in Louisiana, Nebraska, and Washington. Huckabee had a near sweep with wins in Kansas and Louisiana and a close second in Washington. Today, Maine Democrats vote in their caucus.

The Potomac primaries are this Tuesday. Here are our predictions:

District of Columbia:
Clinton - 25%, Obama - 73%
Huckabee - 22%, McCain - 64%

Maryland:
Clinton - 41%, Obama - 57%
Huckabee - 23%, McCain - 62%

Virginia:
Clinton - 40%, Obama - 58%
Huckabee - 31%, McCain - 52%

In other news, it appears that the writer's strike is over, and part of the spring TV season will be saved. New episodes can be expected about six to eight weeks after the deal is finalized. 2/8/2008 - This week's summary is now online. This week's summary discusses the fall of the Prodi government in Italy.

The big news from yesterday was Mitt Romney's decision to suspend his campaign. Prior to Super Tuesday, we thought that one Republican candidate would withdraw from the race following Super Tuesday. We did not think that it would be Romney, though. Romney, however, failed to live up to expectations on Super Tuesday. He was anointed as the conservative challenger to McCain. Huckabee and the voters had a different idea.

There are several primaries/caucuses this weekend. For the Democrats, we predict that Obama will win in Louisiana, Nebraska, and Washington, and that Clinton will win in Maine. For the Republicans, we think that McCain will win in all three states, Kansas, Louisiana, and Washington. We also predict that Huckabee will exit the race following this weekend's primaries/caucuses.

2/7/2008 - This week's extra podcast is now posted. In this podcast, we discuss the big winners and losers of Super Tuesday and make some predictions for this weekend's primaries and caucuses.

It looks like Clinton will get a narrow victory in New Mexico, although the number of delegates will be roughly the same due to proportional distribution. More interestingly, it sounds like Clinton is having trouble keeping up with Obama for cash. As a result, some Clinton campaign workers have agreed to defer salary. In January, Clinton raised $13.5 million (excluding a $5 million loan from her own funds) compared to Obama's $30 million for the month. If this race goes much longer, as expected, it will be interesting to see if Clinton's cash problems significantly affect her ability to compete in future primaries.

2/6/2008 - Although a few ballots are still being counted, Super Tuesday is in the books. As expected, the Democratic results were close, and both candidates will be claiming victory. Obama will definitely win in the total number of states. He won 13 of the 22 states, and has an extremely narrow lead in New Mexico. By contrast, Clinton won only 8 states, but she won the biggest states of California and New York.

Clinton will also get slightly more delegates. As of 5:00am EST, CNN has so far projected 462 delegates for Obama and 457 delegates for Clinton. These results, however, do not include the delegates from California or New York, two states that Clinton won.

For the Republicans, McCain did well, but he may not have done well enough to convince Huckabee or Romney to exit the race. Of the 21 states that held elections, McCain won 9 states, Romney won 7 states, and Huckabee won 5 states. Huckabee did much better than expected. Huckabee won a number of southern states that were expected to be very close, including Georgia and Alabama. Romney's finish was probably underwhelming. He was the candidate that alot of conservatives were pushing as the McCain alternative. Romney, however, clearly lost votes to Huckabee.

McCain will definitely get the most number of delegates, as he won California and New York as well as a number of winner take all states. As of 5:00am EST, CNN has so far projected 436 delegates for McCain, 162 delegates for Romney, 125 delegates for Huckabee, and 10 delegates for Paul.

For vote counts and exit polls, check out CNN's site.

We will post a special podcast tonight or tomorrow analyzing the Super Tuesday results as well as give our picks for the Big Winners and Losers from last night.

2/5/2008 - We updated the questions in the Draw.

Today is the biggest day in the primary process when over 20 states will cast votes for the Democratic and Republican nominees. Our predictions for tonight are below.

For the Democrats, the expectation is that Obama and Clinton would finish the day with almost equal delegates. This will be an interesting night. Many states are very close, but some suggest that Obama has some momentum.

For the Republicans, the expectation is that McCain would gather the most delegates and be in the driver's seat for the nomination. Some recent polls, however, show Romney with a lead in California, which would be a huge victory for him.

2/4/2008 - The new podcast is now on the site.

I had a good weekend judging at the Pennsbury Falcon Invitational. Because of this commitment, I was unable to post some links over the weekend. As a result, I added a ton of links today.

The new podcast will be placed on the site this afternoon. This week's podcast is our Super Tuesday predictions. We think that Mike Huckabee will definitely drop out after Super Tuesday. Mitt Romney will probably drop out if he loses North Dakota and Montana. Here are our predictions:

PLEDGED DELEGATES:
Clinton - 794, Obama - 855
Huckabee - 125, McCain - 586, Paul - 22, Romney - 295

STATES WON:
Clinton - 11, Obama - 11
Huckabee - 1, McCain - 15, Paul - 0, Romney - 5

Alaska:
Clinton - 54%, Obama - 45%
Huckabee - 8%, McCain - 37%, Paul - 30%, Romney - 24%

Alabama:
Clinton - 51%, Obama - 48%
Huckabee - 33%, McCain - 40%, Paul - 6%, Romney - 19%

Arizona:
Clinton - 48%, Obama - 51%
Huckabee - 9%, McCain - 48%, Paul - 6%, Romney - 36%

Arkansas:
Clinton - 68%, Obama - 31%
Huckabee - 62%, McCain - 12%, Paul - 2%, Romney - 24%

California:
Clinton - 44%, Obama - 55%
Huckabee - 12%, McCain - 44%, Paul - 5%, Romney - 38%

Colorado:
Clinton - 53%, Obama - 46%
Huckabee - 4%, McCain - 38%, Paul - 11%, Romney - 46%

Connecticut:
Clinton - 45%, Obama - 54%
Huckabee - 10%, McCain - 56%, Paul - 4%, Romney - 29%

Delaware:
Clinton - 47%, Obama - 52%
Huckabee - 7%, McCain - 45%, Paul - 5%, Romney - 42%

Georgia:
Clinton - 41%, Obama - 58%
Huckabee - 29%, McCain - 34%, Paul - 5%, Romney - 32%

Idaho:
Clinton - 38%, Obama - 62%

Illinois:
Clinton - 31%, Obama - 66%
Huckabee - 12%, McCain - 50%, Paul - 3%, Romney - 34%

Kansas:
Clinton - 43%, Obama - 56%
Huckabee - 18%, McCain - 43%, Paul - 4%, Romney - 33%

Massachusetts:
Clinton - 51%, Obama - 48%
Huckabee - 2%, McCain - 37%, Paul - 2%, Romney - 58%

Minnesota:
Clinton - 45%, Obama - 54%
Huckabee - 16%, McCain - 53%, Paul - 6%, Romney - 24%

Missouri:
Clinton - 52%, Obama - 47%
Huckabee - 31%, McCain - 40%, Paul - 3%, Romney - 24%

Montana:
Huckabee - 5%, McCain - 31%, Paul - 25%, Romney - 35%

New Jersey:
Clinton - 53%, Obama - 46%
Huckabee - 6%, McCain - 59%, Paul - 4%, Romney - 29%

New Mexico:
Clinton - 48%, Obama - 51%

New York:
Clinton - 59%, Obama - 40%
Huckabee - 8%, McCain - 56%, Paul - 6%, Romney - 29%

North Dakota:
Clinton - 54%, Obama - 45%
Huckabee - 10%, McCain - 40%, Paul - 6%, Romney - 42%

Oklahoma:
Clinton - 55%, Obama - 44%
Huckabee - 24%, McCain - 42%, Paul - 4%, Romney - 20%

Tennessee:
Clinton - 55%, Obama - 44%
Huckabee - 24%, McCain - 34%, Paul - 10%, Romney -30%

Utah:
Clinton - 35%, Obama - 64%
Huckabee - 2%, McCain - 10%, Paul - 2%, Romney - 86%2/1/2008 - The new summary is posted on the site. This week's summary is on an earmarks moratorium.

As I mentioned earlier this week, I will be at the Pennsbury Falcon Invitational tonight and tomorrow. If you see me at the tournament, please let me know what you think of the site.

January 2008
1/31/2008 - As expected, Rudy Giuliani dropped out of the presidential race and endorsed John McCain. A new Gallup poll shows that Barack Obama received a nice bump following his South Carolina win and is only a few points behind Hillary Clinton. Clinton led with 42%, Obama in second with 36%, and Edwards in third with 12%.

In economic news, the Fed cut the federal funds rate by .50 percent to 3 percent.

1/30/2008 - This week's special podcast on the Florida primary results is now posted on the site.

It is being reported that John Edwards will exit the presidential race at a news conference scheduled for 1:00EST today. We expected a withdrawal from the presidential race today, but Edwards was certainly not our top choice. It is also being reported that Edwards will not immediately endorse Obama or Clinton.

Edwards' withdrawal kind of ends the speculation that he would stay in the race to act as a kingmaker at the convention. In my recent podcast, I stated that I did not think that the Democrats would want to go to the convention without a nominee. I mentioned on this site earlier that I thought Edwards' best decision would be to exit the race and endorse Obama. It does not look like that such an endorsement will happen soon though. In any event, Edwards' withdrawal leaves a two-person race.

John McCain was the big winner in Florida yesterday with 36% of the vote. The final vote totals in Florida were very similar to our predictions, although we incorrectly predicted that Huckabee would sneak by Giuliani. There is speculation that Giuliani will drop out of the race and endorse McCain. Going into Florida last night, McCain was competitive in many states and ahead in several Super Tuesday primaries, including California, New York, New Jersey, and Oklahoma. Given McCain's win in Florida, Giuliani's endorsement, and his prior competitiveness in many Super Tuesday primaries, McCain looks like he will secure the GOP nomination.

The Democrats also had a primary in Florida, which was won by Clinton. This victory will probably do little for her campaign as none of the candidates competed in Florida because the state lost all of its delegates by moving up their primary.

For Florida CNN Exit polls:   Dem.      GOP

We will have a special podcast today to break down the Florida results. In the meantime, check out this great New York Times article which explains the Super Tuesday process and all of the delegates at stake. Make sure to click on the Multimedia graphic titled Choosing Delegates on Super Tuesday. There is also a great graphic in today's Wall Street Journal on page A4, but I can't find the graphic online.

1/29/2008 - Last night was President Bush's State of the Union address. That is two hours of your life that you will never get back. The Florida primary is tonight. A McCain win may solidify his lead in many of the Super Tuesday primaries. A Romney or Giuliani win would make things very interesting. We will have a special podcast tomorrow to analyze the Florida results.

If you get a chance, sign up for the message board. The message board is great for asking questions or debating recent events.

1/28/2008 - This week's podcast is up. In this week's podcast, we look at the big winner and loser from South Carolina and give our predictions for Florida.

This weekend, Thirty Minutes Prep will be at the Pennsbury Falcon Invitational. If you see me at the tournament, please let me know what you think of the site.

This week's podcast will be a little late and should be posted on the site this evening.

We have made some changes on the site. We reset the polls for the presidential nominations. You can vote at the Polls tab on the News page. We updated the questions in the Draw. There are 400 questions in the US section and 200 questions in the International section.

1/27/2008 - The big news yesterday was Obama's rout in South Carolina. While most observers believed Obama was going to win, very few predicted that he would win by the margin that he did. The race got very bitter near the end, and Obama was the main recipient from those who were upset with the tone of the race. Here is the exit poll from the South Carolina Democratic primary.

In two days, the Republican picture may get a little clearer after the Florida primary. It looks to be a tight race between McCain and Romney. We think that McCain has the slight edge. We think Giuliani will finish fourth and drop out of the race. Here are our predictions:
Rep: McCain - 34%, Romney - 32%, Huckabee - 14%, Giuliani - 14%, Paul - 6%

1/25/2008 - This week's summary is now posted on the site. The topic is the recent Taiwan parliamentary elections.

Tomorrow is the Democratic South Carolina primary. Here is my prediction.
Dem: Obama - 46%, Clinton - 32%, Edwards - 20%

Polls show that Edwards is rising, but I don't think that he will have enough to catch Clinton. The question is whether Edwards will stay in the race. Even though I think he will finish in third, I do not think that he will drop out of the race. I think that he will stay in the race until Super Tuesday.

I think that Edwards staying in the race hurts Obama. Most of the Super Tuesday polls show that Clinton has a significant to large lead in most states, although that lead will decrease somewhat with an Obama win. That said, in a three person race, Clinton has the edge. She has the lead, she has lots of cash, and she can rely on her husband to help her campaign.

There is some speculation that Edwards is staying in the race to serve as a kingmaker at the Democratic convention. I don't see this happening. I think that if Clinton wins most of the Super Tuesday primaries, then she will go on to win almost all of the remainder of the primaries and secure a majority of the delegates.

If Edwards wants to play the kingmaker, I think that he would use his respectable South Carolina showing and drop out of the race and endorse Obama. It has been speculated that Edwards will not endorse Clinton. If this is true, then he may want to support Obama when Obama is riding high. An Obama win in South Carolina, coupled with an Edwards endorsement, would certainly help Obama into Super Tuesday, similar to Joseph Lieberman's endorsement of McCain.

The Democratic primary in South Carolina is in two days. We will put up our prediction for that race tomorrow. After South Carolina, polls are currently showing that Clinton is in the lead in most Super Tuesday states. This means that Obama probably needs a South Carolina win to become more competitive on Super Tuesday. An Obama loss in South Carolina would probably effectively end his campaign.

1/23/2008 - Yesterday was a big day for news. In economics, the Federal Reserve cut the overnight lending rate by .75 percent, and a bipartisan stimulus package may be near. In politics, Fred Thompson withdrew from the presidential race. In entertainment, the Oscars nominations were announced, and actor Heath Ledger was found dead.

I have to travel for work tonight, so I am not sure if I will be able to respond to any emails or to put some new links in the for the file section. If I don't add any links tomorrow, I will make up for it with extra links on Friday.

1/21/2008 - I hope that everyone had a good weekend. In honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. day, I have included some articles about MLK and his impact on politics and society. Since I did not post any articles over the weekend, I also added a number of other links for your file.

Moreover, this week's podcast is posted, where we discuss the Nevada and South Carolina elections. This weekend's elections confirmed that there is a two person race on the Democratic side and three or four person race on the Republicans.

For CNN Exit polls:   Dem. Nev   GOP Nev   GOP S Car

1/18/2008 - This week's summary is now posted. Here are our predictions for Nevada and South Carolina.

Nevada:
Dem: Clinton - 43%, Obama - 38%, Edwards - 14%

Rep: Romney - 37%, McCain - 20%, Huckabee - 14%, Giuliani - 10%, Paul - 9%, Thompson - 8%

South Carolina:
Rep: McCain - 29%, Huckabee - 27%, Romney - 17%, Thompson - 16%, Paul - 6%, Giuliani - 3%

With his showing in Nevada and South Carolina, we think that Fred Thompson will exit the race.

This week's summary on economic stimulus should be posted this afternoon. At that time, we will also be making our predictions for the Nevada primaries and the South Carolina Republican primary.

1/16/2008 - The Michigan primary is over, and the Republican race is hazy with Romney's convincing win over McCain. We thought that McCain had a good chance of winning Michigan due to independent and crossover Democratic voters. Exit polls, however, though showed that almost 70% of voters identified themselves as Republicans. Among those voters who did identify themselves as independent or Democratic, McCain received more votes than Romney with 35% of independents (as opposed to Romney's 29%) and 41% of Democrats (as opposed to Romney's 33%). These poll numbers demonstrated that McCain, while winning independents and Democrats, did not do so overwhelmingly.

On the Democratic side, Clinton won as expected with 55%. The uncommitteds received 40%.

For CNN Exit polls, click here:   Democratic     Republican

1/15/2008 - The Michigan primary is today. The big race is on the Republican side between McCain and Romney. Both have a realistic chance of winning tonight. Although neither candidate will exit the race following tonight's result, a McCain win would continue his upward trend in national polls as well as in South Carolina and Nevada. A Romney win will reduce McCain's momentum and allow Romney to capitalize on the win heading into South Carolina.

1/14/2008 - This week's summary, which will be posted on Friday, will discuss recently proposed economic stimulus packages. If there is any topic that you would like covered in a summary or podcast, please email us at the Contact Us page.

Also, check out the links in the For the File section on this page. This evening, I will place several new links in this section.

1/13/2008 - The Michigan primary is in two days. This is the topic of our latest podcast, which is now posted on the site. Here are our predictions:
Dem: Clinton - 55%, Uncommitted - 36%

Rep: McCain - 31%, Romney - 28%, Huckabee - 17%, Paul - 9%, Giuliani - 5%, Thompson - 4%

1/10/2008 - Bill Richardson has decided to end his presidential campaign. That means that there are now five Democrats still in the race. My guess is that Fred Thompson will be the next main presidential candidate to withdraw from the race.

The Wall Street Journal has decided to make all of their editorials and opinion articles available on the web for free. You can access these editorials and opinion articles at www.opinionjournal.com.

1/9/2008 - We have decided to make Thirty Minutes Prep a free site for the spring semester. We will also not charge for providing questions to tournament directors, although a small donation would be appreciated. We will continue to have the same prices for online coaching sessions.

The new podcast is posted. The podcast discusses the results of the New Hampshire primary and the big winners and losers.

Comeback kids. Possibly, as McCain and Clinton won last night's New Hampshire primary. We will see if any main candidate exits the race based on last night's results. Later today, we will post a special podcast on last night's results. In the meantime, check out the new links in For the File.

1/7/2008 - The new podcast is posted. This week's topic is New Hampshire Predictions. We will also have a special podcast on Wednesday to breakdown the New Hampshire results. We also made changes to our Coaching and Free Online Coaching Offer pages. For more information on the free online coaching offer, please click the link on the right hand side of this page.

1/6/2008 - New Hampshire Predictions:
Dem: Obama - 37%, Clinton - 30%, Edwards - 20%

Rep: McCain - 36%, Romney - 25%, Huckabee - 12%, Paul - 9%, Giuliani - 8%, Thompson - 3%

The new podcast should be placed on the site later today. Two days until the New Hampshire primary. It appears that Obama has gotten a bounce from his Iowa win, but Huckabee has not gotten a similar bounce. In the new podcast, we breakdown the New Hampshire race and look onward to subsequent primaries.

1/4/2008 - Well, after months of campaigning, the Iowa caucuses are in the books and I was 0 for 2. I am not surprised that Obama and Huckabee won. I am a little surprised that Clinton did not get a few more votes and that Thompson snuck into third place. Dodd and Biden have officially ended their campaigns, and a few others might as well. I thought that Thompson would place fourth and end his campaign, but he will probably now stay in the race following his narrow third place finish. I thought that Paul would finish in fifth, but not as high as he did. I was not surprised by Giuliani's sixth place finish, but his four percent total was pretty embarrassing. Now we turn our attention to New Hampshire. The question will be how Iowa's caucus results will affect the New Hampshire voters.

1/2/2008 - In addition to our weekly podcast, we will have a special podcast on Friday morning to discuss the results from the Iowa caucuses.

1/1/2008 - Happy New Years. The questions in the Draw were updated. There are almost 400 US questions and 300 International questions. We also posted this week's podcast. This week's topic is Iowa Caucus Predictions.

Here are our Iowa caucus predictions:
Dem: Clinton - 36%, Edwards - 31%, Obama - 28%

Rep: Romney - 30%, Huckabee - 28%, McCain - 12%, Thompson - 9%, Paul - 7%, Giuliani - 6%.

December 2007
12/30/2007 - This week's summary should be posted in a few hours. I am sorry about the delay. The podcast should also be posted later today. Here are some articles for the file.

12/28/2007 - This week's summary hopefully will be posted this afternoon. Obviously, the big story in the past day was the assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. I thought that I would link to a number of articles and opinion pieces discussing Ms. Bhutto's legacy and the implications of her death on the upcoming elections.

12/22/2007 - Because there is not a podcast this week, I thought that I would mention a number of interesting articles from the past week. Right now, we can't include hypertext the link. Therefore, I will just place the link next to the article. To retrieve the article, simply cut and paste the link into the navigation bar.

12/21/2007 - We will not be posting a summary or podcast this week due to the holidays. We hope that everyone has a great holiday. We will have a new summary and podcast next week.

12/19/2007 - We have redesigned our home page. Rather than having the news RSS feeds on the home page, we created a tab on the navigation bar ("News") for these RSS feeds. Instead, we are going to use the home page to announce website updates, place links to interesting articles, provide commentary, etc. I hope to include a few links every day.