Browsed by
Month: January 2008

Can the Tories break the 300 seat ceiling?

Can the Tories break the 300 seat ceiling?

The Commons seat spreads – where the serious punters go Reproduced above are this morning’s commons seats spreads from Sporting Index where you bet on how many seats the main parties are going to get at the next election. They show the Conservatives at almost their highest ever since the general election. There has only been one previous period, in late November, when the mid-point (the average of the BUY and SELL levels) has risen about the 300 mark. As…

Read More Read More

Are the Clintons getting rattled?

Are the Clintons getting rattled?

How will Bill’s response help Hillary? This TV extract which has been near the top of the bulletins on ABC News gives a good indication of how the Clintons are seeing the battle with Obama as they move into their next big test – Saturday’s Nevada caucuses. The row follows a legal move to change the arrangements for Las Vegas casino workers following an agreement last year that they should be able to partake in the process at their places…

Read More Read More

Why not be like Boris and get two for one?

Why not be like Boris and get two for one?

The betting markets move against the Tory mayoral contender On the face of it the 2008 race for the London mayor has everything. Two candidates who are known simply by their first names as well as a high profile Lib Dem; what looks like quite a tight contest and the knowledge that voting takes place in just 16 weeks time so you won’t be locking up your cash for long. Yet compared with the 2000 and 2004 elections punter interest…

Read More Read More

Could the GOP nominee not even be in the race yet?

Could the GOP nominee not even be in the race yet?

Should you be betting against all the current front-runners? With White House nomination races continuing to dominate the political betting markets in the UK we are sticking with that this morning. In a round-up of where the Republican race lies after Romney’s emphatic victory in Michigan the Guardian‘s man in DC, Richard Adams, raises the possibility that the eventual winner might not yet be in the race. Under the heading that “only a lunatic or a fool would predict who…

Read More Read More

Does Michigan take the wind out of McCain’s sails?

Does Michigan take the wind out of McCain’s sails?

..and what about Hillary after 40% of Dems voted “uncommitted”? Another fascinating night for US primary watchers with Romney doing better than expectations in the GOP race to win with a thumping margin and a worrying result for Clinton in the Democratic election where she was the only main candidate. Most of the pre-election polling had suggested that McCain was running Romney very close in in his home state with at least two firms suggesting that the Arizona senator was…

Read More Read More

Can Romney pull it round in his father’s state?

Can Romney pull it round in his father’s state?

Or will McCain become an even bigger favourite? It’s Tuesday and that means, for the next month or so at least, that it’s primary time in the US. Today it’s been the voters of Michigan who are having their turn to decide who should occupy the GOP slot. There is voting on the Democratic nominee but no one will take any notice because of the state is in defiance of the party nationally, there has been no campaigning and the…

Read More Read More

Methtinks it’s time to be back backing Barack

Methtinks it’s time to be back backing Barack

Will he come out top in Nevada and South Carolina? Like many long-standing Obama backers, I’m sure, my confidence in his ability to do it was shaken by last week’s New Hampshire primary. What concerned me particularly was the way the the ex-President’s spouse was able to galvanise women voters and get them to the polls. This was a major achievement which if replicated across the country could make wininng the nomination a certainty. My Betfair book is reproduced above…

Read More Read More