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Thirteen Keys to the Presidency

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Is it possible to know the results of a presidential elections months, even a year or two, in advance? According to these authors, the answer is "yes" and their method is revealed in this book. The Thirteen Keys are a simple list of qualifications that the incumbent party must meet to retain control of the White House. If the incumbent party loses six or more keys, its candidate is destined for defeat in November. The authors have credibility because their book illustrates how the keys have worked in every election since the Civil War. They predicted George Bush's victory in the early spring when Michael Dukakis held a double-digit lead in the polls. They foresaw the electoral strength and resiliency of Bill Clinton. What makes the Thirteen Keys especially intriguing is that they make media strategies, electoral college maps, and vice-presidential picks irrelevant. In making each election a referendum on the past four years, the keys not only confirm common sense, they also redeem the integrity of the regular voter. Ronald Reagan didn't win in 1980 or earn re-election because of his acting skills. Nor could George Bush have been saved in 1992 by a superior campaign. The message of the keys is: "Performance counts." Looking ahead to 2000 has to bring a smile to Democrats. Using the keys, it is hard to envision a scenario other than a Gore victory in November. Whether that's good news or bad news is up to the reader.

This book shows readers how to correctly predict the winner of an upcoming U.S. Presidential Election. The authors developed 13 True/False questions (Keys) on the U.S. economy, foreign policy, and other political matters. They then apply these 13 Keys to every Presidential contest from the start of the two-party system in the 1850's up through modern times. Readers see that whenever eight (8) or more Keys are true on Election Day, the candidate of the party holding the White House has won the popular vote. Whenever fewer than eight Keys are true, the challenger triumphed. Unfortunately, the Keys only predict popular vote, and on three different occasions (1876, 1888, 2000) the candidate with the most popular votes still lost in the Electoral College. Nevertheless, the 13 Keys correspond with the popular vote winner in every Presidential election from 1860 (Lincoln over Douglas/Breckenridge) through 1988 (Bush Sr. over Dukakis), the last contest before this book was published. And at this (updated) writing the Keys remain true, having forecast popular vote wins by Bill Clinton (1992 & 1996), Al Gore (2000), George W. Bush (2004) and Barack Obama (2008) - that's 37 straight elections!

Authors Allan Litchman and Ken DeCell make a strong case that their 13 Keys are vital, while arguing that campaigns are largely irrelevant - a claim some will no doubt debate. Regardless of your view, THE THIRTEEN KEYS is a valuable and prophetic read.

The Keys to the Presidency is a perfect formula on perdicting U.S. Presidential elections. Even at this date spring of 2010 when the gop is boasting of huge potential huge gains in the 2010 mid-term elections President Obama is in strong position to win a second term in 2012. he has good amount of keys locked up in his favor already at this early date. his 2010 losses will be his 2012 gain according to the keys.