Reported in the Hill:
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is the front-runner to win the Republican presidential nomination in 2012, according to online oddsmakers. Despite a slew of negative press this fall about Sen. John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) running mate, online gaming site Superbook.com puts Palin’s odds at 3.5-1, the best among Republican hopefuls.
Other top GOP contenders include former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, whose odds are set at 4-1, and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, at 5-1.
Palin is the odds-on favorite, with Mittens running a close second followed by none other than Mike Huckabee! Yes, I'm Jewish, but this moment begs for a "Sweet Jesus, thank you Lord!"
What about the threat of a dark horse candidate, you ask? Running in fourth is Florida's governor, Charlie Crist, followed by Mark "Spray-Tan" Sanford (both 12-1). Sure, Crist seems the least unpalatable, but, remember, Karl Rove (assuming he's not in prison by then) and the Palin wing of the party will eat him alive during the primaries. And Sanford would be a Palin-worthy candidate, Einstein that he is. Behind them, Petraeus and Guiliani have 15-1 odds. These people are about as popular as Dick Cheney nowadays.
With the current signs of the Republican party on the brink of an implosion sparked by the party's dominant racist wing, I can't imagine a sorrier class of candidates under more bleak circumstances.
As a Democrat, I know should feel icky as a result of November's victory. Also, I understand I shouldn't be counting my chicken littles before they hatch. But with the speculation favoring such a tin-eared field of GOP front runners, and the current landscape of Republicans eating each other because half the party wants to bitterly cling to the klan-inspired Southern Strategy, I can't help but smell lots of Republican blood come 2012.