The 45th President

For a while there earlier this year it seemed like the national media weren’t making that big a deal out of the race for the presidential nomination of the GOP. Certainly the clamor and din were no match for what occurred in 2007, as the coverage of the race took up significant space even before it had truly formed into a coherent story. A lot of that obviously had to with the fact that the 2008 election would be to replace a terribly unpopular (especially within the media) two-term president, and the fact that neither party had an obvious standard-bearer.

Obviously, barring the horrifically tragic or the immensely scandalous, one party’s nomination is set. To some extent, that seems to limit the fun. So let’s open it up a bit. The question here is not, who will win the 2012 presidential election, but rather, who will be the President of the United States after Barack Obama? It could be a Republican winning next November, or knocking off the Democratic candidate in 2016, or it could be a Democratic successor to Obama. Who’s your money on? Below is a list of some credible candidates, people of both parties with national name recognition and the ambition to someday be president, and the odds, in my estimation, that they will be the next president. Will one of these people be the 45th POTUS? And if so, who? And more importantly, how much money could you make by being right?

Potential Republican Candidates for 2012

Mitt Romney 2-1
Tim Pawlenty 5-1
Jon Huntsman 7-1
Rick Perry 9-1
Sarah Palin 10-1
Ron Paul 18-1
Newt Gingrich 27-1
Michele Bachmann 35-1
Herman Cain 99-1

Potential 2016 Republican Candidates
Chris Chirstie 14-1
Marco Rubio 19-1
Paul Ryan 22-1
Bobby Jindal 31-1
Bob McDonnell 40-1
Mitch Daniels 49-1
David Petraeus 50-1
John Thune 55-1
Mike Huckabee 75-1


Potential Democratic Candidates and Successors
Joe Biden 7-1 (only this low due to proximity)
Hilary Clinton 6-1 (never rule out a Clinton)
Al Gore 20-1 (he’s stayed in public spotlight)
Andrew Cuomo 14-1 (it’s early, but he’s popular and successful)
Rahm Emanuel 50-1
Mark Warner 60-1
Deval Patrick 80-1
Brian Schweitzer 85-1
Kay Hagan 85-1
Claire McCaskill 90-1
Debbie Wasserman-Schulz 110-1
Cory Booker 125-1