George Bush Has an Edge Over John Kerry Survey of Rand McNally Road Atlas Reveals

- America's No. 1 Road Atlas Accurately Predicted All Presidential Elections Since 1992, Proving That it All Comes Down to Names -

- Georgetowns outnumber Johnstowns -

SKOKIE, Ill., Oct. 19 -- Forget electoral votes. If history is any guide, predicting the 2004 presidential election isn't a numbers game, it's a name game. And you only have to look at a map to see who the winner will be.

An in-depth survey of the 2005 edition of the Rand McNally Road Atlas reveals more place names contain the words George or Bush (as in Georgetown, Colo.) than John or Kerry (Johnstown, Pa.).

Despite Bush's advantage, Republicans shouldn't start celebrating quite yet. Kerry has an ace in the hole in his running mate: Place names in the 2005 edition Road Atlas that contain the word Edwards outnumber those that contain Cheney by a factor of three.

Don't think a candidate can win based on name alone? A review of the past three elections attest to the 2005 edition Road Atlas' value as a flawless outcomes predictor.

With regard to the 2000 election, place names that contain the words George or Bush outnumber those that contain Albert or Gore by a factor of almost eight and Ralph or Nader by a factor of 25. And consider the outcome in 1996: There are more than five times as many William or Clinton place names as there are Robert or Dole place names -- and almost 15 times the number of Ross or Perot place names. Similarly, more locations have William or Clinton in their names than George or Bush (think Sr. in 1992).

"The 2005 road atlas has a perfect 12-year track record of forecasting who will win the presidency," said Laurie Borman, editorial director of Rand McNally. "Look to the book to reach your own conclusion about who will end up in the White House. And no, I don't mean Whitehouse, Ohio."

Political Revelations Abound in Road Atlas

Here are other geographic items of note from the new road atlas in this election year:

  -- We know Kerry's sport is windsurfing, but what's Edwardsport? The
     answer: a town in Indiana (page 37).
  -- Although politicians can be rambling at times, it's easy to see Cheneys
     Point, N.Y. (page 70), from Interstate 86. Even so, folks in Edwards,
     Colo., might not agree (page 20).
  -- John Edwards is the best-known Democrat in his home state of North
     Carolina. Slightly lesser known is Republican, N.C., just off Highway
     308 (page 75).
  -- Thought there was only one George W. in Texas? Think again. The
     community of George West, Texas, appears in the road atlas index as
     "George W." (page 135).
  -- Some states really worship our politicians.  In fact Indiana, Kansas,
     Maine, Missouri, North Dakota and Washington all have a Saint John
     (pages 36, 40, 45, 57, 77 and 109).
  -- While most people honor President's Day on the third Monday in
     February, they can observe John Day, Ore., any day where U.S. 26 meets
     U.S. 395 (page 85).
  -- In a face-off between the two major parties' mascots, the GOP wins.
     Elephant Butte, N.M. (page 68), is the only place name containing
     either the word elephant or donkey.

The 2005 edition of the Rand McNally Road Atlas is now available at retailers nationwide. For the first time, the road atlas offers purchasers access to exclusive online road construction information for enhanced travel planning. It also includes 5,100 map updates since the 2004 edition and new and updated editorial content and tourism resources.

About Rand McNally

Rand McNally & Company, founded in 1856, is America's indispensable travel guide, providing mapping, routing and trip-planning tools for the consumer, business, education and commercial transportation markets. The company produces print and electronic products featuring national and local maps for the United States and Canada, including the Rand McNally Road Atlas and The Thomas Guides(R) books. Rand McNally offers trip planning on randmcnally.com . For more information, call 800/333-0136 or visit http://www.randmcnally.com/ .