Gambling $3,000 On The Election.

Radar • Sep 7, 2008 2:31 am
So far, I've got about $3,000 bet with people I know who insist that McCain will win.

Actually, I bet my wife an all expense paid trip to Vietnam for a month. That's about $1,500 or slightly more. I bet some other Vietnamese people I know 4 bottles of Martell Cognac Cordon Bleu (about $450), and I bet my wife's uncle (also Vietnamese) $1,000 cash.


I've asked my Vietnamese friends and family why they would want a man who calls Vietnamese people "gooks" to be elected. They let their racism slip out when they said, "It's better than having a black guy..."

I was originally going to buy 3 new game consoles, but now when I win these bets, I'm going to buy a new Sony Bravia 1080p LCD (120 Hz) Television. It's the best tv I've ever seen.

Thank you President Obama. My personal economy is looking better already.
xoxoxoBruce • Sep 7, 2008 2:35 am
Did you tell them he's only something like, less than 7% black?
Radar • Sep 7, 2008 2:41 am
No. I just told them to be ready to pay me in 2 months.
Undertoad • Sep 7, 2008 10:02 am
Luckily you don't need racist "friends" to make this wager. You can currently get 43 cents on the dollar and there's no question you'll get paid:

http://www.intrade.com/
Undertoad • Sep 7, 2008 10:38 am
You might want to wait on Intrade until later today. Zogby has the race McCain 50, Obama 46 this morning, and you'll get a better price waiting until the market digests this new information.
classicman • Sep 7, 2008 12:17 pm
Radar;481684 wrote:
They let their racism slip out when they said, "It's better than having a black guy.."


How much does this attitude still play here? Is that gonna be a major factor in this election?
Undertoad • Sep 7, 2008 1:44 pm
Gallop has the race McCain 48, Obama 45

Your money is much better wagered on WHIP's NFL picks.
xoxoxoBruce • Sep 7, 2008 1:49 pm
classicman;481727 wrote:
How much does this attitude still play here? Is that gonna be a major factor in this election?
Yes.
Radar • Sep 7, 2008 1:49 pm
I don't care what those polls say. They aren't conducted scientifically and minorities tend not to take them as much.

I'm confident in my bet.

Realclearpolitics averages all of the polls and they still have Obama ahead anyway.
BrianR • Sep 7, 2008 8:25 pm
I'm kinda broke but put me down for $5 on McCain too.
classicman • Sep 7, 2008 9:25 pm
How does that break out on a state by state basis?
xoxoxoBruce • Sep 7, 2008 10:50 pm
State of Anxiety = 76%

State of Fear = 68%

State of Angst = 56%

State of depression = 64%

State of Calm = 4%
Undertoad • Sep 8, 2008 5:48 am
Realclearpolitics is a rolling average of all these types of polls. On the basis of USA Today/Gallup likely voters 10 point edge to McCain, this morning the RCP average has McCain up by one point.

But like I predicted, you can now get Obama 2.5 cents cheaper on intrade.
Griff • Sep 8, 2008 6:41 am
classicman;481727 wrote:
How much does this attitude still play here? Is that gonna be a major factor in this election?


I wonder if Obama already hit his ceiling? The lack of bounce out of the convention seems to indicate that. The Palin thing has really paid off for the GOP from my unofficial snooping among the faithful yesterday.
glatt • Sep 8, 2008 8:31 am
Yeah, she sure is energizing the GOP.

The left hates her, and the middle isn't sure.

We'll see how she fares once she has to actually answer questions instead of giving speeches. We're still a long way out from the election, and anything can happen. She's doing well now though.
Sundae • Sep 9, 2008 12:59 pm
The High Street odds here make it better to bet on Sarah Palin becoming VP (17/12) than John McCain becoming President (11/8). Which I don't really get. I'm tempted to put a bet on, just so that I have something to feel happy about if the Republicans win!
Undertoad • Sep 9, 2008 1:18 pm
When all the various troubles came out, the rumour was floated that Palin was chosen just to firm up conservative support, knowing that all these troubling details were in her background, so that McCain could then remove her. So people are still thinking that she could be off the ticket and not make it to November.

They are wrong. Palin is intended to create divisive arguments that favor the R ticket in reverse. It's a cynical political operative ploy.
lookout123 • Sep 9, 2008 1:20 pm
it really is. i have to admit it's the first thing the McCain camp has done well. Up until this point I couldn't believe how utterly rutterless the campaign was.
Griff • Sep 9, 2008 4:54 pm
It has really worked. The left sounds disengenuous arguing that she can't be a Mom and have a job, while the right wing nutters get their raw meat. Obama answered with school choice but that lacks sex appeal. He needs to hit the middle hard before the left alienates his potential voters.
footfootfoot • Sep 9, 2008 9:28 pm
Clearly, Radar thinks diebold is not in McCain's camp as it was in Bush's.
[/foilhat]
Radar • Sep 10, 2008 2:14 am
No tinfoil hat needed. That was proven.
footfootfoot • Sep 10, 2008 9:16 am
Well I believe it, but then I have my reasons.
Do you think that oil is passe and ADM's backing of Obama signals where the new money is headed, i.e. food? Especially in light of the honey bee collapse? I'd bet on food for the next decade, but will diebold get in line and allow Obama to be elected?
Undertoad • Sep 10, 2008 9:52 am
But not "really really proven", right? Because you'd never gamble $3000 on an outcome that can be fixed. That would be completely moronic, would it not?

Feel that feeling of cognitive dissonance? Embrace it. That's where the truth lives.
Radar • Sep 10, 2008 4:08 pm
I believe they used the voting machines to slightly skew the election in favor of Bush. I don't believe they can skew it enough for McCain to win without getting caught. Obama will win by a landslide.
Undertoad • Sep 10, 2008 4:48 pm
Oh well then, bulk up the bet! Really great prices on intrade today. You can now more than double your money.
Radar • Sep 10, 2008 5:36 pm
My wife is already pissed that I've got $3,000 on the line.
BrianR • Sep 10, 2008 7:25 pm
$3005
HungLikeJesus • Sep 10, 2008 8:27 pm
footfootfoot;482670 wrote:
Well I believe it, but then I have my reasons.
Do you think that oil is passe and ADM's backing of Obama signals where the new money is headed, i.e. food?
...


Food is the new energy.
footfootfoot • Sep 10, 2008 9:14 pm
I'm with you on that. As we reach peak oil (if we haven't) some people will be forced to change their lifestyles, many have already around here. A lot of folks are going back to wood, a lot of folks are insulating, whatever. We'll go more nuclear power, wind, water. All thsoe condos built in old mill towns will be gutted and revert to water powered mills again. Who knows? Energy production and use will sort itself out.

But an army or a nation for that matter travels on its belly. When folks get hungry, things will heat up. The ironic thing is honey bees , which pollinate something like 14 billion (figure pulled directly from my hinder) in crops, aren't even native to the US. But their introduction allowed the massive scale of agriculture we employ for that type of crop.

Still, I wouldn't bet a dime on this or any election in the US.

Just checked the national honey board's website www.honey.com and they say in 1999 the value of crops was 14.6 Billion (That might have just been the bees compensating for Y2K
BigV • Sep 11, 2008 3:17 pm
HungLikeJesus;483019 wrote:
Food is the new energy.


I think you're wrong.

Water is the new Energy.
HungLikeJesus • Sep 11, 2008 3:47 pm
BigV;483321 wrote:
I think you're wrong.

Water is the new Energy.


You wouldn't think that if you were sitting in Houston this next weekend.
TheMercenary • Sep 11, 2008 5:55 pm
Griff;482486 wrote:
It has really worked. The left sounds disengenuous arguing that she can't be a Mom and have a job, while the right wing nutters get their raw meat.
Sort of like Nancy Pelosi and her 5 kids.:3eye:
footfootfoot • Sep 11, 2008 11:25 pm
Water is the new oil.
Food is the new energy.
Bees are the new nuclear power.
Oil is the new new deal.
Nuclear power is the new waste management.
Waste management is the new water.

Everybody set?


OK. Where do we pee?
HungLikeJesus • Sep 12, 2008 10:34 am
Urine is very valuable and should not be wasted.

Store it in your refrigerator until further instructions.
Clodfobble • Sep 12, 2008 5:40 pm
Yeah, that's what Isaac Hayes thought too.


Random-ass sidenote: Isaac Hayes did the voice of Chef on South Park. Acclaim Studios developed the universally-panned videogame called "Chef's Luv Shack." I did not work on the game myself, but I have a few outtakes from the recording sessions with Mr. Hayes, one of which includes him going off on how amazing urine is, and how it's even mentioned in the Bible, and a lot of cultures have traditions of drinking it for medicinal purposes... The man was a total nutjob, in case you were wondering. But he had a great voice!
footfootfoot • Sep 12, 2008 8:51 pm
Clodfobble;483756 wrote:
but I have a few outtakes from the recording sessions with Mr. Hayes, one of which includes him going off on how amazing urine is


...and three unreleased recordings of Crosby, Stills, and Nash, and Young fighting in their dressing room...

[/mudshark]
xoxoxoBruce • Sep 13, 2008 9:25 pm
Clodfobble;483756 wrote:
... The man was a total nutjob, in case you were wondering.

That explains why he hooked up with Tom Cruise & company. :rolleyes: