I just got back from a National Press Club panel on new media and realized that I’m not updating The Electoral Map nearly enough — especially with 50-some-odd days until the election.  So, here’s my pledge that I’ll update TEM at least five times a week through Nov. 4 — and perhaps beyond.  I’ll also be updating Twitter at @POttenhoff regularly with quick hits on politics and geography.

Meantime, there’s a lot of good political geography analysis to report today — Who would have thought that in mid-September, we’d still be talking about McCain winning New York and Obama taking South Carolina?

[NEW YORK - 31 VOTES] I normally wouldn’t include the Empire State in this roundup, but Ed Morrissey has some bizarre polling showing Obama in the 40’s here and loosing to McCain on key candidate attributes.  Noting Sptizer and Rangel, Morrissey writes, “If the Republican brand suffered nationally, the Democratic brand isn’t doing well in New York.”

[PENNSYLVANIA - 21 VOTES] Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Salena Zito columnist asks, “Can McCain really win Pennsylvania?”  Well, yes, if he wins Allegheny, Bucks and Chester counties.  “All three counties have healthy-sized veterans populaces, with lots of socially conservative labor-Catholic Democrats.”

[OHIO - 2O VOTES] Reporting from the Ohio River Valley, Walter Shapiro predicts Obama’s chances of winning the Buckeye State’s 20 electoral votes will hinge on race. “It does not take a UFO hunter to find Ohio voters who believe that Obama is… well… alien,” he writes, before interviewing a handful of regular Joes and Janes.

[VIRGINIA - 11 VOTES] Garrett Graff, using the Washingtonian Twitter handle, asks, “If Northern Virginia became the 51st state, what would its name be?”

[SOUTH CAROLINA - 8 VOTES] Spartanburg Herald-Journal reports that the Obama camp still has 30 paid staffers in South Carolina (hat tip: Jay O’Callaghan and Election Watcher 2008).