U.S. Presidential Betting: Rudy Giuliani Upstaged by Mike Huckabee in Debate
Is Mitt Romney giving Rudy Giuliani the finger? Maybe not, but a lot of Republicans who watched Wednesday's debate did. (AP Images)
The Republican CNN/YouTube Debate could've also been a game of Odd Man Out. The odd man being Rudy Giuliani. The former mayor of New York City was roundly booed on several occasions from the audience in St. Petersburg, Fla., on Wednesday night. Although he's the betting favorite with Republican candidate odds of 20/21 to emerge with his party's nomination, Giuliani clearly didn't hit high points with the crowd. He was booed for his flip-flops on illegal immigration and abortion, and what he called "reasonable regulations" on gun ownership. If Giuliani was a loser on the night, the winner was Mike Huckabee, who happens to be a former governor of Arkansas, just like Bill Clinton. In 1992, Clinton shocked the country and won the Democratic nomination then the presidency. Huckabee counteracted the duplicity of Giuliani with what seemed like honest answers that were straightforward, logical and indicated a high degree of integrity. Huckabee said he would gladly accept the backing of gay Republicans who are part of the Log Cabin coalition, but would not change his strong opposition to same-sex marriage just to appease them. "I'll be true to my convictions," he said, adding that he will stick by those convictions and "can explain them and will respect those who disagree with them." Huckabee, who gained a lot of points by twice appearing on the Comedy Channel hit show The Colbert Report, is an 11/1 long shot to win the nomination. Another winner on Wednesday was Mitt Romney, who came out on top in one-on-one duels with Giuliani. When Rudy went for low blows, Romney deflected them with intelligent responses. Senator John McCain also had a strong performance and re-emerged as a viable candidate after a difficult few months of campaigning.Ron Paul, the grassroots candidate, appeared more like the Republicans' version of Dennis Kucinich than the next president. Tom Tancredo and Duncan Hunter were mostly just taking up space. Most candidates took shots at Hillary Clinton, the leading Democratic candidate, and hardly anyone mentioned George W. Bush. The questions were submitted by citizens through YouTube and included several on hot topics like immigration and gun control, but very little on the economic situation and sub-prime mortgage crisis, and none on the possibility of escalating conflicts with Iran. Voters in Iowa will begin voting in the primaries in January for both parties. Here are the most current Republican candidate odds for the eight men in Wednesday's debate:Rudy Giuliani – 20/21Ron Paul – 5/2Mitt Romney – 11/2Fred Thompson – 4/1John McCain – 5/1Mike Huckabee – 11/1Duncan Hunter – 35/1Tom Tancredo – 60/1 For a whole slew of U.S. presidential election odds and other political bets, vote with your wallet with the Bodog Sportsbook.