virginia last year would have become a 9-4 romney triumph. this is part of a trend. republicans thanks to the wave elections of 2010 control governorships in a number of big blue states. now, with the gop s national chairman cheering them on, republicans in many of the states are talking more and more about pursuing similar rules changes. the effect could be massive. currently, two states, maine and nebraska, award electoral votes by congressional districts. only once in nebraska in 2008 resulted in the vote going to a candidate that didn t win the statewide popular vote but the math changes in bigger states where democratic voting populations are jammed in to a handful of districts in metropolitan areas and republican voters more widely dispersed across the state. apply the model to 50 states and mitt romney would have won the electoral vote 276 to 262 last november and lost the national