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Barack Obama's Intrade value will increase more than John McCain's following the VP debate by 64 percent. This was the betting activity observed at the online prediction market based out of Dublin, Ireland. Intrade.com was seeing nearly 1000 bets placed on this occurrence.
"It would be difficult for these companies to offer betting on who actually won Thursday night's Vice Presidential debate since there is some argument as to who won the Presidential debate last week," points out Gambling911.com political prognosticator, Payton O'Brien.
Intrade customers have overwhelmingly decided that Palin will not perform well during the debate and that Obama's running mate, Joe Biden, will help to further boost his numbers. But Biden also stands the chance of coming across as condescending and he is notorious for making major gaffes that could easily shift the momentum back towards McCain and Palin.
The world, it seems, will be watching this one, making it the most anticipated Vice Presidential debate in history.
It will be a classic battle of archetypes: the experienced Washington insider against the plucky, charismatic Alaskan outsider, writes Josh Visser of CTV.ca.
To date, Palin's "outsider" appeals have resonated with many Americans, prompting a two week surge by McCain in the national and some state polls. Then along came a bunch of bank failures, linked all too closely with the current Republican administration.
The vice-presidential debate has the potential to be incredible prime-time entertainment, especially for viewers looking for a political car wreck, Visser points out.
"That's exactly the reason many of us will be watching," O'Brien quipped. "I think the country has learned a valuable lesson from Dick Cheney not to let the Vice President get in the way of running a country."
But there is much more on the line here. McCain, 72, has had a series of health issues related mostly to skin cancer. His age alone (he'll be 76 at the end of his first term) has many Americans concerned that Palin would be one breath away from the Presidency. Likewise, Biden received less votes during his brief Presidential run during the primaries than Palin did to be voted the Mayor of tiny Wasilla, Alaska. If something were to happen to Obama, the US would be stuck with a man whose popularity - in theory - is lower than that of George Bush.
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Christopher Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher
