What Nobody Dares Discuss

There is still an electoral race on. McCain is still fighting for North Carolina, Ohio, and most importantly, Pennsylvania.

Here's the beast: There seems little if any doubt that Obama will overwhelmingly win the popular vote. But, that doesn't matter. The Electoral College will elect the President. Just as there is no doubt that the popular vote is strongly for Obama, there is little doubt that the electoral vote is far closer.

What if there is an overwhelming popular vote for Obama but an electoral victory McCain?

We all remember this happened in 2000, when Gore won the popular vote. But then it was fairly close. What if the two — popular and electoral — are grossly out of balance?

Wouldn't it be something if we add a constitutional crisis to the financial one already under way?

Scope out FiveThirtyEight.com for a better look at the electoral/popular breakdown than you'll find in the Times or on CNN.