Florida 2008 US Presidential Election Day Betting Odds

Once again the state of Florida finds itself in the epicenter of a Presidential race quagmire. Florida 2008 US Presidential Election Day betting odds have the Republican party and its candidate, John McCain, a mere -225 favorite to win the state. The Democrats would pay just shy of 2/1 odds or $175 for every $100 bet at BetUS.com

There are a few things going in McCain's favor.

First, he has hinted at choosing Florida Governor Charlie Crist as his running mate. Florida likes its Republican Governor, whose own Election Day ads referred to him as a "Ronald Reagan Republican". Crist hasn't suffered the backlash brought on by the unpopularity of the current Republican administration.

"While Florida voters like Crist, it is probably safe to say that they prefer the first-term governor stay in Tallahassee and do the job he was elected to do less than two years ago," Brad Coker, managing director of Mason-Dixon Polling & Research, told the News-Press of Fort Meyers.

The other positive for McCain: Democrats in the state are still fuming over their exclusion in the primaries. Florida had moved its state primaries up along with Michigan and were essentially punished by the party for doing so.

Contrary to what has been reported in some media. McCain is advertising heavily in the state, at least in South Florida.

That's not to say John McCain will have it easy in the state. Hardly!

His faux pas about not knowing how many houses he owns may not have radiated on a national scale but in Florida, where the housing crisis has been especially severe statewide, the perception of McCain as someone who owns a surplus of homes may have cost him some points.

Likewise, Floridians more than most US citizens are likely to be less enthusiastic over the prospects of offshore drilling. After all, the state is like one giants coastline from east to west. McCain now supports offshore drilling.

An editorial appearing in the Orlando Sentinel this week expresses that a spill in the eastern Gulf could devastate Florida's $65 billion-a-year tourism industry -- not just for what it might do to the coast's beaches, but also for the harm it could do to marine life. A spill also could threaten the Atlantic Coast because of the current that flows from the Gulf through the Florida Straits to the Gulf Stream.

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Jagajeet Chiba, Gambling911.com