Betting Market Heats Up on US Vice-Presidential Nominations

Rumours are flying over who will be Mitt Romney’s vice presidential candidate and along with them the betting market is heating up. Last week Romney said that reports that his campaign was not vetting Marco Rubio for the nomination were completely false and that his campaign is in fact vetting the Florida senator.

So far Romney has been silent about his campaigns vice presidential selection and always refused to answer questions when asked about it. Last week’s statement was the first time that they have officially confirmed that they are vetting anyone.

At present William Hill have Marco Rubio as third favourite to be nominated for Vice President at 9/2 behind Rob Portman at 7/4 and Tim Pawlenty at 3/1.

Romney’s statement last week was in response to a news report which claimed that “knowledgeable Republican sources” said that Rubio was not being vetted. According to the report Rubio had not been asked to hand in financial disclosure documents or complete any questionnaires, both of which are traditional parts of the vetting process.

Upon hearing the report conservatives were shocked which resulted in a number of questions to the junior senator which he refused to answer. However, Romney has now publicly defended Rubio twice, last October he labelled a Washington Post story about Rubio’s family as a “smear”.

This public endorsement of Rubio by Romney is sure to have a direct impact on the betting market. It is worth keeping a close eye on the odds on offer as the odds may go down if Rubio appears to be a strong candidate.

At present William Hill are offering odds on 32 different possible Vice Presidents, whilst some such as Glenn Beck (150/1) are clearly considered outsiders, the top three or four candidates all have excellent odds and are certainly worth a bet for those interested in US politics.