Random I know, but my Dad and I were discussing this and this is what he came up with:

Horrible
Barack Obama -Anti- American and Destructive

Really Bad
Lyndon Johnson- Destructive
The Idiot Carter – An Idiot
Franklin Roosevelt – Basis for the welfare state, but at least he had a real crisis

Bad
Richard Nixon – Paranoid nut job who gave us price controls and expanded the Great Society
Woodrow Wilson – Just a misguided “I know better than others” idiot idealist
G.H.W. Bush – Squandered Reagan’s legacy
Teddy Roosevelt – Started Federal government activism

Nebbish
Harding \
Coolidge  \
Hoover      |- Meh.
Ford           /
Taft           /

OK
Harry Truman – could easily slide in the Nebbish, but did a few decent things
George W. Bush – Morally great, but economically a sissy
Bill Clinton – I can’t rate him a nebbish and he wasn’t really bad…

Good
John Kennedy- The last good Democrat, and we’ll probably never see another one
Dwight Eisenhower- He knew better than to mess things up and started some worthwhile govt programs (highway system, space exploration)

Great
Ronald Reagan – No explaining needed.

Don’t think we missed anyone….

Although not much has changed, besides Romney being guaranteed the nomination, I noticed over at TopBet Online sportsbook they have much better odds than a lot of the books. If you’re pulling for R0mney and think he can honestly pull it off, TopBet is giving great odds.

Democratic Party -280

Republican Party +210

Most other books are offering only +150 so that’s sixty cents of juice you can get for the exact same bet. Clearly we have a long way to go and a lot can happen, but it’s going to be tough for the democrats to pull an “October Surprise” on Romney, mainly because he doesn’t have any skeletons in the closet. So as I’ve said earlier if you like Romney now, I only see those odds going lower. Over at Real Clear Politics their national average has Romney 3.4 down in the last month, however the more recent data has them in a deadlock.

As other House, Senate, and Gubernatorial races heat up I’m sure more books will begin to post odds and we’ll let you know if we see any value.

Not much to report on the political odds front, except that, all the sports betting sites that post these odds have the democrats as a HUGE favorite to win in November. Right now multiple sports books have the odds set like this:

Democratic Party -210

Republican Party +170

If you think that Mitt Romney (the presumptive Republican nominee) has a shot at beating President Obama, now is you best chance at getting good odds. As previous elections have all been very close, there is no reason to think that this years won’t be. Right now Obama is polling about 2-5 points higher than Obama, but there is a long way to go. If the economy, gas prices, and the number of people unemployed doesn’t improve soon,  I can definitely see these numbers getting closer. Let me know what you think in the comments.

As I’ve written in this space many times I’m a big fan of online gambling. Sports gambling mainly, however, over the last few years more and more sites are adding political prop bets to the list of things you can wager on. With the primaries in full swing and a tight race between Santorum and Romney shaping up here is where Vegas has each candidate going into the Michigan Primary, which takes place on February 28th:

Odds to win the Michigan Primary

Mitt Romney -130
Rick Santorum - EVEN
Newt Gingrich +5500
Ron Paul +5500

Romney is only a slight favorite in what most people considered a home state for him. Also, If you think Ron Paul or Gingrich could pull off a stunner there is a lot of money to be made. Here is a look at a more national odds: Read the rest of this entry →

Every year Bodog tries to do it’s best at handicapping the the presidential elections. This year they’ve released odds for the Republican primary and Bodog seems to agree that Romney and Perry are the frontrunners, both receiving 5/4 odds. Gambling is big business and Bodog’s foray into political handicapping is probably nothing more than a publicity thing but you can really make some money doing this. With laws regarding online gambling having effected that sites that involve bingo games online, poker games, and other casino related games handicapping is becoming one of the few choices left online.

Lets take a look at some of the numbers:

2012 US Presidential Election – Republican Nominee

Mitt Romney 5/4
Rick Perry 5/4
Ron Paul 11/1
Sarah Palin 14/1
Jon Hunstman 18/1
Michele Bachmann 22/1

At this point it’s safe to say that it’s a Romney/Perry race, however Sarah Palin could surprise everyone and get in. Who knows how that would effect the odds. Here are the odds for the Presidential winner:

2012 US Presidential Election – Odds to be Next President

Barack Obama 10/11
Mitt Romney 4/1
Rick Perry 4/1
Ron Paul 20/1
Jon Hunstman 25/1

Obama, being the incumbent is the clear favorite, but if you think Perry or Romney will win the Republican nod you can parlay that with a Presidential win and get really good odds. This is a fun thing for gamblers to do, but it’s football season, and football is king.

The most recent issue of ESPN the Magazine, the bi-weekly publication of the 24-hours cable sports network ESPN, gave current and former pro athletes their own segment to “sound off” on various subjects, including news of the day. While most athletes discussed rule changes to their respective sports or things they’d like to accomplish after sports, former San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Jerry Rice took a different approach. Instead, he offered readers some thoughts on President Barack Obama’s performance.

Shorter version – it’s George Bush’s fault:

“I think with President Obama, everyone is criticizing him for taking on what George Bush left him. Give him an opportunity. This is something he inherited from George Bush. I really try to stay out of politics and all of that, but to see everything happening on television with people constantly bashing him with their different opinions — we have wars, the deficit, all of this stuff. There is so much going on right now that it’s going to take him a while to turn this around. So just give him a chance.”

Apparently two-and-half years aren’t long enough for Rice. Just exactly how much time is needed to fix what Obama “inherited” from President Bush?

Rice, a NFL Hall of Fame wide receiver, played the majority of his career for the San Francisco 49ers. He was an prolific wide receiver in his day, winning three Super Bowls and racking up some gaudy stats (208 TDs, 22,895 receiving yards and 1,549 receptions).

Although he claims he “really” tries to stay out of politics, perhaps he should and stick to talking football.

(Editors Note: These podcasts are posted at banter.aei.org and are cross-posted here with permission of the American Enterprise Institute.)

You can listen here and subscribe on iTunes here.

As Apoorva returns to Banter this week, he joins Stu and Andrew to chat a bit about his trip to Poland as well as some current events in sports and the news. In particular, the guys talk about the fate of the debt limit deal and the prospects for a full NFL season.

Visit www.aei.org for the latest commentary on the debt limit negotiations.

Today on Fox News Channel’s “The Five” the topic of marijuana legalization came up. Gutfield, who’s an outspoken libertarian, quickly came to the defense of drug legalization saying, “legalize everything.” Gutfield went on to say that “alcohol has done more damage to America than any drug.” The rest of the panel had mixed opinions on the topic. Whether you agree with Gutfield or not, it’s obvious he’s passionate about the subject.

(Editors Note: These podcasts are posted at banter.aei.org and are cross-posted here with permission of the American Enterprise Institute.)

You can listen here and subscribe on iTunes here.

On this episode of Banter Andrew (filling in for Apoorva) and Stu sit down with AEI Research Assistant Julissa Milligan to talk about AEI’s latest Health Policy Outlook on substandard Pharmaceutical drugs. With AEI’s own Roger Bate, they’ve released a plethora of info on the dangers involved in generic and foreign produced drugs. We also talk with Julissa about growing up in Eastern Africa and chasing gazelles on motorcycles.

Related Reading:
AEI’s Health Policy Outlook on substandard drugs
Beware the Risks of Generic Drugs
Legal But Deadly

Other Reading:
Blood, Oil, and Sudan
How Effective Was The 2009 Stimulus Program?

I’m really sorry to have to post this, but it just has to happen. From the Observer via USA Today:

Chill out Sun, its not polite to do that in public.