Over the next several days, Best of the Blogs contributors will be peering into crystal balls, or magic mirrors, or shot glasses, or whatever they’ve got, attempting to predict the outcome of the election on Tuesday in some or all of following categories:

• Final electoral vote count
• Popular vote differential
• Senate seat change
• Biggest upset or surprise

My predictions are as follows:

Final electoral vote count: McCain 271, Obama 267.

Make no mistake, this is not what I want to see. But I have been on record for at least two years saying that the Democrats will find a way to lose the 2008 election, and here’s a plausible way it could happen. I am assuming that big states won by the Repugs in the last two elections but now shown in the Obama column by opinion polling will go for McCain in the end. I make this assumption for two reasons: I believe in the Bradley Effect like Sarah Palin believes in Jesus, and I believe that the Repugs have got Ohio and Florida (and perhaps some other states) wired, either through voter suppression or outright theft. Despite Obama showing strong leads in Ohio and Virginia, I’m assuming McCain takes ‘em by a nose. Likewise, I am assuming McCain will pull out North Carolina. I am also giving Missouri, which is currently rated a tossup, to McCain; ditto Indiana, which is leaning McCain. Florida is leaning Obama at the moment, but it’s the state most likely to be stolen outright, and I’m assuming that unless Obama pulls 70 percent of the vote, it will be stolen again. Even though the great site fivethirtyeight shows Pennsylvania firmly for Obama, I wouldn’t be surprised if it flips for McCain on Tuesday. But even if Obama wins Pennsylvania (and North Carolina, for good measure), should McCain win the rest of the states mentioned above and hold the ones in which he is currently favored—and if I’m doing the arithmetic properly—it’s McCain, 271-267. And if Colorado and New Mexico revert to 2004 form—which is possible—McCain’s margin will be even larger.

(Bonus prediction: Likelihood that we will know who the next president is by sunrise on Wednesday: 10 percent. Some of these states are going to the courts.)

Since I’m picking McCain, I think we’ve covered the biggest surprise.

Popular vote differential: Obama by 2.5 percent.

Seat change in the Senate: Democrats +8, giving them 57.

Tear this to shreds and/or make your own predictions in the comments, and watch for predictions from other Best of the Blogs contributors between now and Election Day.

On Election Night, I’ll be here to live-blog the returns starting at 6PM Central time, so please stop by.