Two shots

Without further ado, the non-partisan competitive Election Night drinking game.

1. The players come to consensus on which network they’re using for results. If they can’t come to consensus, they have to use CNN (if the party is predominantly Republican) or Fox News (if the party is predominantly Democratic).
2. Everyone predicts the winner and his percentage of the vote in 15 battleground states.
3. If you get the winner wrong, drink!
4. If you get the margin of victory wrong by more than 1%, drink!

Example: Bob says “I think Kerry’s gonna win New Hampshire with 55% of the vote.” After everyone’s done mocking him, they settle down to watch the results. CNN calls New Hampshire for Kerry with 51% of the vote. 51% is more than 1% away from 55%, so Bob drinks. If Kerry had won New Hampshire with 54% of the vote, Bob would be fine.

So what are your battleground states?

Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Minnesota, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Virginia. Which is only 14 — but add in your home state. If you live in one of those states, throw in Hawaii.