By the end of May, the projected electoral votes have swung wildly out of my favor. McCain now leads Obama at 310 electoral votes to 228! Studying the map, it's obvious that I'm being outgamed on the electoral college. We're both neck and neck when it comes to the popular vote, with 39.2 million Americans supporting Obama and 38.9 million Americans supporting McCain. But the popular vote means diddly squat. Just ask Al Gore.

However, McCain has somehow outspent me by $14 million to my $9 million. I'm particularly confused about the financial gap, since Obama has spent several weeks camped in California, sucking up funds. I haven't seen McCain hold a single fund raiser. The wonderful thing and the infuriating thing about Political Machine (and many of Stardock's games) is that it's not always clear why something happens. There's a sense that these numbers have a life of their own and you're just surfing across them as they happen. The secret life of data.

At the end of the month, we each choose our vice-presidential candidates. One of the missed opportunities in Political Machine is that it doesn't matter who you choose for your VP slot. He's strictly a token to raise your awareness in a state and its adjacent states. His stand on issues doesn't matter. His stats don't matter. His home state doesn't matter. You park him somewhere and don't give him another thought. McCain selects Guiliani, who he leaves in New York. This won't do him much good, since I have New York securely wrapped up, and McCain isn't making much of a play for the neighboring prizes like Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, or New Jersey.

For Obama's running mate, I select myself. Political Machine has a pretty good character maker that lets you shape your own bobble-headed candidates with their own agendas. Think of them as Presidential Miis. Mine doesn't look any more like me than my Mii, which means it's a good thing I make a living writing about games instead of making videogame avatars. I send myself to Tennessee, which borders nine states, most of which I've neglected so far. I've made a strong play for the big states and now I obviously need to get the word out to those states with fewer electoral votes. I'll enjoy some fine down-home cooking and bluegrass music while I do it. I might even go to Graceland.