It's Heating Up: The 2008 Presidential Election
Jan. 22, 2008
By Jason Brough
Bodog Nation Contributing Writer
Back in July, oddsmakers were giving Hillary Clinton 2/1 odds to become the next president of the United States. Since then, she's faced a big surge by Barack Obama, the junior senator from Illinois, and the two leading contenders to gain the Democratic nomination have mixed it up on an almost daily basis.
Despite the challenge by the Obama camp, oddsmakers still like Clinton and have since lowered her odds to win the Nov. 4 election to even. Obama, meanwhile, is at 4/1.
The Bill Clinton Effect
Clinton's biggest supporter (out of guilt, if anything) is her husband, Bill, the 42nd president. But his campaigning has drawn a lot of fire recently and provided plenty of fodder for Obama.
Speaking to ABC's Good Morning America on Monday, Obama said that Mr. Clinton's words in support of Mrs. Clinton were "troubling."
"And one of the things that I think we're going to have to do is to directly confront Bill Clinton when he's not making statements that are factually accurate," Obama said.
The above came in response to Mr. Clinton's criticisms of Obama and the latter's claims to have never supported the Iraq war. "Give me a break. This whole thing is the biggest fairy tale I've ever seen," Clinton had said.
Bettors would be wise to follow Mr. Clinton's antics closely since he still holds a lot of sway in Democratic circles, particularly in the African-American community. If he's good, he might be able to sway some of the vote. If not, it's advantage Obama.
More 2008 US Election Betting
Do the Republicans Have a Shot?
According to oddsmakers, yes and no. The Grand Old Party is getting 5/6 odds to win the 2008 election, which implies that they have a better than 50/50 shot. The only problem is this: the Dems are at 1/4. In other words, it's probably best to stay away from this wager until the book managers ease up on the risk management. (Honestly, Unity08 at 60/1? On which planet?)
John McCain leads the Republican vote. (AP Images)Back to the GOP. It seems that their leading candidate has emerged, and his name is John McCain. The former Vietnam POW and current senior senator from Arizona won the New Hampshire primary on Jan. 8. Less than two weeks later, he finished first in the South Carolina primary, earning 33 percent of the vote.
"There are some tough contests ahead," McCain said after his triumph in Charleston, but added, "We are well on our way tonight. And I feel very good about our chances."
McCain is currently at 8/5 to win the Republican nomination and is closely followed by Mike Huckabee at 9/5 and Mitt Romney at 3/1.
From the Bizarro File
The one and only Chuck Norris, a Huckabee supporter, had this to say about the 71-year-old McCain: "I didn't pick John to support because I'm just afraid that the vice president would wind up taking over his job in that four-year presidency, so we need to find someone that can handle it for four years or eight years... that has the youth and vision and communication skills to make that work."
The Biggest Loser – Rudy Giuliani
Back in July, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani was the 3/2 favorite to take the Republican nomination. Today – with the latest bad news for his campaign being that he's trailing McCain in his home state of New York – Giuliani's odds to make the GOP cut have risen to 5/1.
Giuliani is counting on the Florida primary to help him gain some speed. (AP Images)Not surprisingly, the Giuliani camp went on the attack on Monday. "Rudy Giuliani is the only fiscal conservative in the race and it's easy to see why," said Giuliani spokeswoman Katie Levinson in the press release. "John McCain not only voted with the Democrats against the Bush tax cuts twice, he's voted over 50 times for higher taxes. With a record like that, you can't tell if John McCain will stand up to the Democrats in Washington who want to raise taxes or stand with them."
Even less surprisingly, the McCain camp fired back. "It's not surprising to see the Giuliani campaign launch misleading attacks on a day when two new polls show John McCain beating Rudy Giuliani decisively in his home state of New York," McCain spokesman Brian Rogers said. "John McCain has a long record of fighting for tax cuts and controlling spending. In contrast, Rudy Giuliani has a record of opposing tax relief. He actually endorsed liberal Democrat Mario Cuomo for governor because he opposed George Pataki's tax cut plans, which Giuliani said at the time were too large. He also left Mayor Bloomberg with a fiscal mess, including a budget deficit of over $2 billion. That's not fiscal responsibility."
A strong showing in the upcoming Florida primary is a must for Giuliani. Fortunately for the man who’s still best known for his leadership after 9/11, oddsmakers believe he is, indeed, the favorite to take Florida, a state in which he has campaigned heavily. Giuliani is at 5/6 to win the primary, followed by McCain (10/11), Romney (5/4) and Huckabee (6/1).
TOP PHOTO: Presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton's biggest supporter is her husband, Bill Clinton. (AP Images)
