On Sarah Palin and those lesser types in the “Republican Candidate in 2012″ prop
LiveBetsDirect hasn’t had a look at this proposition bet in some time – over a year in fact – but with “Obama’s Katrina” slowly getting cleaned up, the healthcare plan settled for now, and those troops in Afghanistan … well, still there, it’s time to reconsider some of bet365’s “U.S. Presidential Election 2012” props.
LBD’ll surely rant about the line on Barack Obama’s better-than-even-money odds to repeat at a near-future date, but the odds under discussion today, those of the “Republican Candidate in 2012” proposition bet – may be considered as in direct relation to the sitting president anyway.
Looking at the motley bunch the GOP appears to be assembling to contend for the Republican Party nod in a couple years, it’s beginning to appear as though that Obama will be able to do anything up to and including selling large swathes of American land to the Kang/Kodos bipartisan government before “losing” is even on the Democrats’ radar in ’12.
(Incidentally, the New York Times reminds us today that Obama is against gay marriage, a stand that will surely paradoxically lose him about 37 votes from the American LBGT community.)
Seriously, look at the top of the table: Mitt Romney’s still no. 1 at 3/1 odds. The Republican answer to stirring Democratic candidates of the past like Walter Mondale, Al Gore and John Kerry, Romney would make a fine nomination indeed if the aim is to alienate the GOP’s all-important ultra-conservative wing and get the party a right thumping in the general election.
With Obama already set to cruise to victory, LBD’s favorites in this prop bet are definitely the 8/1 shots Tim Pawlenty and Mick Huckabee. Both would be ideal as sacrificial lambs sops to the far-righties in what could well be a losing battle from the go.
Bet on Huckabee or face Chuck's wrath
Huckabee performed brilliantly in the 2008 series of Republican primaries, acting as torchbearer for the conservatives and managing to stick around to remain in the GOP’s top three. Pawlenty has clearly taken note of (and possibly aim at) swiping some of Huckabee’s non-Chuck Norris support: Already notable as a Republican governor in ultraliberal Minnesota, Huckabee’s recently taken up the English-only dogma, a classic quixotic issue of xenophobes closet racists avaricious money-grubbers conservatives.
Third on the table is Jon Thune. And if you just said, “Who?” you’re not alone. Until his recent proposal – a *proposal*, mind you – to reduce the federal deficit is the first time the South Dakotan has gotten national press since swiping Tom Daschle’s senate seat in 2004. At 13/2, LBD … well, LBD wouldn’t cover this one, since it seems like Thune has “prospective cabinet member” written all over him.
One guy that’s been on the radar since 2006 is Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal (now at a long 16/1 to win the nomination). But Jindal’s political tactics during the events of BP oil spill torturing his state’s coastline seem to mostly consist of ducking the media: a strategy that could certainly backfire come intraparty debate time.
On the other hand, seeing his request for $457 million in development money from British Petroleum approved would be one heck of a feather in the cap for this once-promising candidate – on the other other hand, his attacks on Obama in 2012 for mishandling the 2010 disaster are certain to be disliked once we’re reminded at how un-Giuliani Jindal appeared throughout the crisis.
And then there’s Sarah. The former Alaska governor has seen her stock at online bookmakers rise and fall over the past 18 months. In April 2009, Ms. Palin was leading the sorry Republican pack with odds of 3/1 or even better. After handing in her resignation from office to ostensibly take a position with Fox News, the odds on Palin-for-Prez-in-2012 dropped to 10/1. Today the CILF’s line is back down to 5/1; LBD’s advice is to have no part of that, though.
Why? Again: The Republican brain trust surely realizes that the tide continues to flow the do-little President’s way, that two Bush Eras will take some time to forget, and that the party needs a reboot on the order of Star Trek. Remember that in 2016, Palin will be just 48 years old.
Palin in 2012? Forget it.
Palin in 2016? Now you’re talking. How about some odds, bet365…?
Other odds in bet365’s “Republican Candidate in 2012” proposition bet include the following.
Jon Huntsman: 12/1
Newt Gingrich: 14/1
Jeb Bush: 16/1
Michael Bloomberg: 16/1
Charlie Crist: 20/1
Condaleezza Rice: 25/1
Bill Frist: 25/1
Rudolph Giuliani: 28/1
Sam Brownback: 33/1
Ron Paul: 33/1
Mark Sanford: 35/1
Fred Thompson: 40/1
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