It was just hours after George W. Bush had been re-elected President of the United States in 2004 that sportsbooks began posting betting lines on who would win a four-year lease on the Oval Office in 2008.

John McCain, the Arizona Senator, and Hilary Clinton, the Senator from New York, remain the frontrunners for the Republican and Democratic parties, respectively. McCain, because of his maverick nature, has appeal with moderates, swing voters and conservative Democrats. That would be a formidable foe in the general election but, ironically, that same independent streak-he strayed from 축구중계 conservative orthodoxy on judges, taxes and gay rights–could hurt him in the GOP nomination process where Evangelical Christians and conservative activists, groups less than enamored with his stance on those issues, are a formidable voting block, particularly in the primaries.

Clinton has the opposite problem. While the former First Lady is wildly popular in Democratic circles and, should she decide to run, would be difficult to beat for the partys nomination, remains a polarizing figure and could have difficulty winning a general election where many already have a fixed,...