Electoral possibilities

Two-hundred-and-sixty-nine.

Up until now, that number really hasn't had any meaning in the lives of Americans. On Nov. 4, that might change.

Presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain are vying for 270 electoral votes, putting them in the seat of the most dominant person on the planet. What happens if both men come up short?

It's the end of the world as we know it, or it might as well be.

If neither man can grasp enough votes to be named the 44th president of the United States, the votes of us "Joe Sixpacks" mean absolutely nothing. Instead, the House and the Senate get to make the decision.

While I don't really pay attention to the numbers given by polls in states, I happened to see CNN's Electoral Map Calculator. Toss-up states, such as Florida, Nevada and Ohio, have the power to control this election.

Take this scenario. Let's say Obama grabs Nevada, and McCain grabs every other swing state available, including states like Virginia, Florida, Ohio and Missouri. 269-269. While the odds of this happening are slim, it's still there.

If this were to happen, the House of Representatives would get the chance to vote, but there is a catch. The outgoing Democratic House that sits in Washington today has not one voice in the election. Instead, the incoming House gets the opportunity to choose their next president.

Scary scenario, wouldn't you say?

For the sake of Democrats, the House is looking to stay Democratic come 2009, but if a few quirks occur, the possibilities are endless.

Each state, in this situation, gets one vote, putting 50 available votes on the board. If a state is primarily Democratic or primarily Republican, it's almost a given that the vote will coincide with the presidential nominee. But for states who split officials on party lines, the votes negate themselves.

If neither candidate were to get a 26-state majority, the tiebreaker then goes to the Senate, giving them the option to vote for a vice president.

If the Senate were to tie, Vice President Dick Cheney then gets the final say, ultimately giving the nod to Republican vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin.

Come Jan. 20, if the House cannot make their decision on the next president, Palin would then become the 44th President of the United States of America and, if the deadlock was not broken, could stay in that position for an entire four-year term.

Who said there couldn't be a woman president anytime soon?

In that situation, imagine that the House eventually chose Obama as the next president. You would have an Obama-Palin combination leading this nation.

Frightening.

In an ultimately crazy scenario, imagine that the Senate couldn't choose a vice president and the House was deadlocked on the presidential choice.

Say hello to President Nancy Pelosi. She too, could be our president for four years.

Now while the idea of a tie to begin with sounds completely impossible, know that it has happened before. Thomas Jefferson defeated Aaron Burr in 1800 thanks to the House giving him the nod.

According to Nate Silver of www.fivethirtyeight.com, there is a 0.48 percent chance of a 269-269 tie occurring, much larger from past elections. While the number is so small, just imagine the chaos that could take over Washington if this were to ever happen.

Fasten your seatbelts.