2004: I don't have a map for this one as I was 11 at the time. I felt the election was always going to be close and while I hoped Kerry would win, I always had a gut feeling Bush was gonna pull through in the end, and was very down in the dumps the next day at school.
2008:I was way off on this one. I actually though McCain was gonna win until three things happened (in no particular order), 1) The collapse of Lehman Brothers 2) Palin's interview with Katie Couric 3) The Debates. Even then, I didn't think Obama would win by as much as he did. Didn't pay close enough attention to have an actual electoral prediction at the time.
2012: If you were to ask me in November of 2011 if Obama was going to win, I would've said no. However, that changed by the Spring of 2012, by the end of Summer it was clear Obama was the favorite, but I never counted Romney out. This was my map at the time (give or take VA or CO):
2016: Prior to it becoming Clinton vs. Trump I actually thought a Republican was favored (though by no means guaranteed) to win. When it became a race of Clinton vs. Trump, I though Clinton was going to win and win with Obama's 2008 map minus IN. However, as the campaign played out and especially after Trump got a convention bounce, something Mitt Romney didn't get in 2012, I felt the race was gonna be a close one and was convinced Trump had a legit shot. That said I still felt Clinton was gonna pull through in the end. This would've been my electoral Prediction toward the end of the campaign (Give or take FL, and on a good night for Clinton NC):
2020: I made so many predictions both on and off this forum it isn't even funny, feel free to search for them, lol. Anyways, I never thought the 413 map was ever going to happen, barring a strong primary challenge to Trump that damages him good for the general and/or a strong rightwing or center right third party candidate and I always felt MI was going to flip back to the Democrats, even in scenarios where Trump won. That said, I felt, even if I didn't always want to admit it, that Trump was favored to win in the months prior to COVID and even felt this way in the first month or two of the pandemic. It wasn't until the middle or end of June that I felt it was Biden's to lose, though I felt the race was gonna be closer than the polls suggested.
