290-248
Well known political scientist Larry Sabato of the University of Virginia has projected Obama to win by an Electoral Vote count of 290-248. As you all remember from 2008, he was near perfect in his 2008 projection of 364-174 (final result was 365-173)
http://www.centerforpolitics.org/...
Here is a snippet of what he has to say:
With a slight, unexpected lift provided by Hurricane Sandy, Mother Nature’s October surprise, President Barack Obama appears poised to win his second term tomorrow. Our final Electoral College projection has the president winning the key swing states of Colorado, Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire, Ohio and Wisconsin and topping Mitt Romney, with 290 electoral votes.
and
Adding to the president’s good fortune was a final jobs report that was basically helpful because it wasn’t disastrously bad — that is, the unemployment rate failed to jump back above the psychologically damaging level of 8%. Romney could have used that number to build a crescendo for change. Instead, the final potential obstacle to Obama’s reelection passed by as a one-day story. While Romney surged after the first debate, he never quite closed the deal in the key swing states. And now, we believe he has run out of time.
My disagreement with him in this projection is that he gives Virginia to Romney. But the polling from the last day or two appears to give Obama the edge in that state.
We believe the three closest states are Virginia, Colorado and New Hampshire; in reality, all three are toss-ups, but because we feel obligated to pick every state, we’re splitting these 26 combined electoral votes right down the middle — 13 for Obama (nine from Colorado and four from New Hampshire) and 13 for Romney from Virginia. It’s not very scientific, but in these three states the polling averages and our sources aren’t giving us enough to work with.
Fair enough...But I'll take 290-248!
He is also projected a 53-47 Democratic Senate and a pickup of +3 for the Dems in the House.