This is a political thriller written by Ralph Reed (Christian Coalition, Faith/Freedom Coalition guy)
Republican: Vice President/ Former Sec of State David Petty (R-??) / Senator Ed Bell (R-CO)
Democratic: Senate Minority Leader Salmon Stanley (D-NJ) / Governor Elizabeth Hafer (D-PA)
Independent: Governor Robert Long (D-CA) / Former Governor/Senator Johnny Whitehead (R-KY)
GOP ticket is pretty liberal on social issues. Petty is a moderate, while Bell reminds me of 2000 era John McCain. Petty pissed off all conservative voters with his liberal social stances, and his doveish foreign policy.
Dem ticket has a lot of corruption issues, and Hafer is as dumb as a brick. VERY liberal ticket.
Independent ticket consists of Moderate Dem Gov. Long who lost the Dem nomination (Virginia Delegation was pretty much stolen from him), and Whitehead is pretty socially conservative, and a hawk, but fairly liberal on economics. Long is also a hawk. Very popular ticket.
I didnt finish the book yet, but im pretty close lol. Great read.
Here's what I would estimate a map would look like:
btw, I'd vote for Long/Whitehead.