Blue Countries and Red Countries

The Economist has extended the concepts of the electoral college, and the blue-state/red-state map, worldwide. The magazine's website has created the Global Electoral College, by allocating electoral votes to the countries of the world according to the American rules for allocation to states, and asking people of all countries to cast a vote for Obama or McCain.

I'm not sure whether the link will work for non-subscribers. But if you don't have a subscription to The Economist, you should. If you're caught up in the global economic crisis, and only have $116.79 left in your bank account, you should spend it on an Economist subscription. (I'm not paid to write that.)

If you've been following foreign opinion about the election, it should not surprise you that Obama is ahead. But perhaps it might surprise you that he currently leads by 8,489 electoral votes to 16.

It's interesting that two of the three red countries are ones that were formerly "red" in another sense: Macedonia and Georgia. Take that, old Europe!

But while I don't doubt that Obama is the choice of most people outside the U.S., I suspect the numbers might be a bit skewed. The reality check is to compare the survey's U.S. totals with other U.S. polls.

According to Real Clear Politics, the poll showing the biggest Obama lead is the latest Gallup Daily Tracking Poll, with Obama ahead by 52% to 41%. Compare that best-case Obama scenario to the Global Electoral College result in the U.S., which is 80% to 20% in favor of Obama. For whatever reason, Obama supporters appear to be overrepresented among the respondents to The Economist's survey.