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Massachusetts - 12 - D
Michigan - 17 - D
Minnesota - 10 - D
Mississippi - 6 - R
Missouri - 11 - D
Montana - 3 - R
Nebraska - 5 - R
Nevada - 5 - R
New Hampshire - 4 - D
New Jersey - 15 - D
New Mexico - 5 - D
New York - 31 - D
North Carolina - 15 - R
North Dakota - 3 - R
Ohio - 20 - D
Oklahoma - 7 - R
Oregon - 7 - D
Pennsylvania - 21 - D
Rhode Island - 4 - D
South Carolina - 8 - R
South Dakota - 3 - R
Tennessee - 11 - R
Texas - 34 - R
Utah - 5 - R
Vermont - 3 - R
Virginia - 13 - R
Washington - 11 - D
West Virginia - 5 - D
Wisconsin - 10 - D
Wyoming - 3 - R

Key: D = Democrat, E = Even, R = Republican

* = Since D.C. isn't in the game, Maryland got 3 extra EV's.

Please note that if you alter the game settings in any way, or choose candidates besides Bush and Kerry, the above political information could be different. Also, any candidate, regardless of politics, can win any state if one spends time and money wooing voters there.

8) Issues and Advertising

Q: What are the Top Issues?
A: These are pretty random per game, but with the default settings the Top
Issue is almost always either "The War in Iraq" or "The War on Terror." If you change the settings, obviously that will differ. I'm also assuming that, with future updates to this game, these issues will probably change. Please see
Section VII for more info.

Q: How should I advertise?
A: Again, this is mostly up to you and your style of play. I find that newspaper ads, while inexpensive, are effective enough to get the job done.
However, if you have money to burn I don't see any reason why you shouldn't put up radio or TV ads. The key here is to try to focus on one of the Top
Issues in a specific state. If it's a "battle ground" state, you might have to focus on more than one Top Issue.

Q: What effect does building HQ's have on Issues and Advertising?
A: If you build an HQ in a state, your ads there will become more effective.
Voters will pay more attention, therefore, to your stance on the Top Issues.

9) Miscellaneous Info. (i.e. Advice)

Q: Help! I'm stuck! What should I do?
A: Below, I've included some basic advice:
+ Try not to waste Stamina. Section VI includes Stamina costs for just about everything in the game. Budget well.
+ Don't neglect Political Capital. You can win an election by not spending one point of Stamina on Political Capital, but keep in mind your opponent knows how to use it. And trust me, your opponent WILL use it.
+ Beware lawsuits! If you're running low on cash, don't take any random events. Chances are, you'll get a lawsuit, thereby strapping you of cash and forcing you to do fundraising in a state where you might not be able to make enough money to get out (trust me, I lost an election this way once).
+ Use Operatives wisely. Every time you use one, the cost of using that same
Operative again goes up. So only use them if you desperately need to.
+ Don't fight too hard to win one state. This rule applies even to the "big" states. You'll end up spending ALL your Stamina, Money, Political Capital, etc. when your time could be better spent by chasing votes in a variety of places.
+ Don't neglect endorsements. You can win a lot of approval from certain voters by having certain endorsements.
+ Try to pick a running mate who complements your candidate's abilities. In other words, if your candidate is weak in a certain trait, pick a running mate who has a strong showing in that ability. Also, picking a candidate who's from a specific state can sometimes help your cause to win that state.
+ When your candidate's strength in a state drops, be sure to visit there and see if the Top Issues have changed. Also, keep an eye on what Operatives and
Activists your opponent uses.
+ Having a bit of political knowledge helps, but isn't always necessary.
Generally, picking a candidate you're familiar with is useful, but don't be afraid to do some research or experiment.
+ Overall, have fun and remember: it's just a game! :)

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III. The "Walkthrough"

Here, I've given what amounts to a Walkthrough for the game. This is by no means exhaustive, as there are many different ways to play this game.

1) Setup, controls, and general guidelines

Note: Some of this info may be "common sense" but I've included it here anyway.

A) Game Setup
1. Main Menu:
+ Resume Game: Resumes current game (only if you have one in progress).
+ Quick Play: Start a Single-player Quick game (one game session).
+ Campaign Play: Start a Single-player Campaign game (several game sessions).
+ Fantasy Play: Start a Single-player Fantasy game (one game session).
+ Join Multiplayer Campaign: Start a Multiplayer game.
+ Options:
- Play Music (checkbox): Check if you like the music, uncheck if you don't.
- Play Sound FX (checkbox): Check if you want to hear the airplane noises and whatnot, uncheck if you don't.
- Volume (slider): Adjust the loudness of the music and FX.
- Skip Intro (checkbox): Check this if you don't want to sit through the intro every time the game loads. Alternatively, if you leave it unchecked, you can press "Enter" when the game begins to skip it.
- Hardware Mouse Cursor (checkbox): Forces the game to use the default cursor for Windows.
- Anti-Aliasing 2x (checkbox): Smoothes out the look of the game somewhat.
- Anti-Aliasing 4x (checkbox): Smoothes out the look of the game a bit more (note: you can only select one or the other, not both).
- Show News (checkbox): If checked, the game will periodically show updates about what's happened in a given period (usually every 10 weeks).
- Show Help on Start Game (checkbox): If checked, will show tips upon starting a new game.
- Start game in Window (checkbox): If checked, the game will run in a window rather than full-screen mode.
- Main Menu (button): Goes back to the main menu.
- High Scores (button): Views the High Score list.
- Load/Save Menu (button): Load or Save a game (version 1.01 or later only).
- Quit (button): Quits the game and exits to Windows.
- Resume Game (button): Resumes your current game (only if you have one in progress).
+ High Scores: View High Score list.
+ Credits: View game Credits.
+ Load/Save Menu: Load or Save a game (version 1.01 or later only).
+ Quit: Quits the game and exits to Windows.

Once you start a game you can sometimes set other options; these will be covered within their respective categories.

B) Controls
TPM is operated using the mouse. You can also use the following keyboard commands:
+ Within a State:
1 = Create ad
2 = Campaign (Make Speech)
3 = Raise Funds
4 = Build/Upgrade Headquarters
5 = Special Interest (Build PC, Earn Endorsement, Hire Operative)
6 = State Details
+ Map View:
F1 = Normal Mode (no color coding)
F2 = Awareness (states turn shade of green depending on how aware voters are of your candidate; a brighter shade means they're more aware)
F3 = Wealth (states turn shade of yellow depending on how wealthy they are; a brighter shade means that state is wealthier)
F4 = Electoral Votes (states turn shade of purple depending on how many EV's they have; a brighter shade means more EV's)
F5 = Polling Data (states turn blue or red based on current polling data)
F6 = Liberals/Conservatives (states turn shade of blue or red depending on how many liberals or conservatives are present, respectively - brighter blue means more liberals, while brighter red means more conservatives)
F7 = Popular Vote (states turn blue or red based on popular vote)
F8 = Political Strategy (displays map with current prediction of how states will vote, including a summary of EV's)
+ Map:
C = Select Candidate
Tab = Selects (in turn) your ads, Operatives, HQ's, and Activists.

C) General Guidelines
On the main menu, you can choose between four modes of play: Quick, Campaign,
Fantasy, and Multiplayer. For each of these modes, the following general set of guidelines applies:
+ After setting your options and choosing your candidate, immediately start building HQ's in different states. Keep in mind that, if you're playing against the computer, the computer opponent always goes first. This doesn't change your top priority in the beginning of the game: building HQ's.
+ After the first week or so, seriously consider setting up some ads and perhaps even spending some Stamina points to earn Political Capital. Use this strategy to make your presence known in each state you desire, regardless of whether or not you set up an HQ there. Keep in mind, though, that your ads will have more effect if there is an HQ present.
+ You'll generally want to start thinking about endorsements after you've set up several HQ's and made several ads. A good rule to use is to try to have at least one endorsement by week 5, or 10 at the latest.
+ Thus you have the basic formula for success: building HQ's and making ads.
Spending Political Capital on Endorsements doesn't hurt, either.
+ You may also run into the following issues and elements:
- Random events. As I mentioned before, these can be your friend or your enemy. If your candidate is winning hands-down, it might be fun to just chase random events around, seeing what might happen. If the election is tight, selecting a state with a random event in it may not be a good idea.
- Interviews. Usually a good idea, but keep in mind that the questions are not always easy to answer, especially since your personal inclinations might get in the way.
- Opponents' Operatives and Activists. I've yet to see the computer use an
Operative, but it will almost always use an Activist if it has one. Simply hire a Fixer if the computer's Activist is causing too much damage.
- Attention Deficit: if you visit a state and then go away for a while, your candidate might end up losing favor there. This is especially true when playing against a human opponent, as your opponent will know that absence doesn't make the heart grow fonder in TPM. ;)
+ I'll say it once and I'll say it again: try to keep abreast of the issues.
As you visit each state, pay attention to what the top issues are. You can take advantage of ads created in support or opposition of current events this way.

2) Quick Play Mode

A) Create Game screen
Manager: Put your name here, or make up a name.
Game Name: Name the game (purely aesthetic).
World Setup:
+ Domestic Status: Set the current overall "mood" within the U.S.
- National Rioting = Voters tend to be focused on quelling internal unrest.
- Statewide Unrest = Voters tend to be on edge, but will focus on outside issues such as The War on Terror.
- Overall Peacefulness = Voters tend to focus on internal issues such as Jobs and Taxes, unless Foreign Status is set to Global War.
+ Foreign Status: Set the current overall "mood" worldwide.
- International Peace = Voters tend to focus on issues in the U.S.
- International Tension = Voters tend to focus on issues outside the U.S.
- Global War = Voters focus on issues outside the U.S., unless Domestic
Status is set to National Rioting.
+ Economy: Set the strength of the U.S. Economy.
- Depression = Voters focus on economic recovery issues.
- Recession = Voters tend to focus on economic issues, unless Domestic Status is set to National Rioting.
- Weak = Voters may or may not ignore economy entirely, depending on current
Domestic and Foreign status.
- Strong = Voters will probably ignore economic issues entirely.
+ Difficulty: Set the difficulty of the game. Doesn't affect voting issues.
- Cakewalk = Your candidate will win easily, and minimal effort is required.
- Easy = Your candidate should win easily, and minimal effort is required.
- Simple = Your candidate might win easily, but some effort is required.
- Beginner = Your candidate usually wins with proper effort.
- Normal = Your candidate will win only with a fair amount of effort. Things get a little tricky here.
- Challenging = Your candidate might win, but only with a good amount of effort.
- Tough = Your candidate will only win if you're dedicated enough. Things get really tricky here.
- Painful = Your candidate will only win if you're very dedicated and plan very well. You might need to just get lucky here, too.