The odds seem to favor one of two former governors — Mitt Romney or Sarah Palin — being the next Republican nominee for president, according to the Irish bookmaking agency Paddy Power.
But either would lose to President Obama, the odds-on favorite at 8-1 to win a second term in the White House, according to the betting so far at Paddy Power, which has, at various times, been spot-on and awful as a predictor of American presidential elections.
Palin was 2008 Republican nominee John McCain's choice for vice president. Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, was McCain's topn challenger for the Republican nomination.
After Romney and Palin, Paddy Power lists these contenders:
� 8-1 odds — Tim Pawlenty, John Boehner and John Thune.
� 12-1 odds — Newt Gingrich, Haley Barbour and Mitch Daniels.
� 14-1 odds — David Petraeus.
� 16-1 odds — Fred Thompson, Bill Owens, Bobby Jindal and Jon Huntsman.
� 18-1 odds — Chuck Hagel.
� 20-1 odds — Rudolph Giuliani, Jeb Bush, Lindsey Graham, Chuck Baldwin and Scott Brown.
� 25-1 odds — Tom Ridge and Ron Paul.
� 33-1 odds — John McCain, Condoleezza Rice, George Allen, John Ensign, Paul Ryanand Rand Paul.
� 40-1 odds — George Pataki and Bill Frist.
� 50-1 odds — Sam Brownback and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
� 100-1 odds — Dick Cheney.
� 500-1 odds — Laura Bush.
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