Sunday, June 13, 2004

I was just watching CSPAN and I saw Sen. Bill Nelson introducing the featured speaker, John Edwards. Before Edwards came out, Nelson had somewhat oddly referred to gambling, stating that the bookies felt Edwards would win the VP nod setting his odds at a very low 6 to 5 (or near even money). I must say that I greatly respect the opinions of bookies (they're not in the business of losing) and I also respect the opinion of the free market. I did check Nelson's figures and by gosh, he was right. I would say Edwards is the clear front runner at this point.

Granted, Gore shocked many when he picked Lieberman. But I would "wager" that Kerry has greatly learned from the Gore campaign and I don't believe he'll try to mimic much of it.

In researching these odds, I came across odds on who will win the November election, Bush or Kerry. Although Kerry has pulled ahead in the polls and has remained there for weeks, these bookies still have Bush favored to win by about -140 (i.e. bet 140 to win 100). Kerry's odds of winning are +110 (bet 100 to win 110). Either they know something we don't, or they're setting these odds to satisfy the many "squares" (i.e. non-wiseguys) wagering. It could be a gift!

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