posted November 04, 2004 02:30 PM              

Bookies back Hillary Clinton for 2008
November 4, 2004 - 9:34AM

Hillary Clinton was named favourite to win the next US presidential vote in 2008 after George Bush won re-election to the White House.

The wife of former President Bill Clinton was installed at 5/1 by Ladbrokes and 6/1 by William Hill to take over from Mr Bush after his second term.

Mr Bush won when Democrat rival John Kerry finally conceded defeat in the key battleground state of Ohio.

The Republican was the bookies' favourite for the whole of the election campaign and huge sums were staked on the contest by British punters.

The industry as a whole took STG8 million ($A19.62 million), making it a bigger betting event than the recent Manchester United-Arsenal football clash.

On Wednesday night there was a huge late gamble on Kerry as exit polls predicted he would win but earlier, heavier stakes were on the incumbent.

Ladbrokes spokesman Warren Lush said: "The punters seemed convinced Kerry would win but there was a last gasp swing back to Bush after midnight.

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Advertisement"Bush was favourite for the whole race, except for a few hours when we saw a huge late gamble on Kerry."

The close-fought vote, where the candidates were often neck-and-neck in opinion polls during the campaign, ensured it was the firm's most heavily backed election.

It doubled the amount spent on the last one four years ago and dwarfed the backing for the last UK general election.

"Millions of pounds changed hands in the biggest betting election ever. It is unlikely that we will see such interest in the next UK election, unless the Tories can close the gap on Labour in upcoming months," he said.

One punter from Ontario, Canada, stood to win more than 200,000 Canadian dollars after backing Mr Bush to win back in June and correctly predicting which party would take which state.

William Hill spokesman Graham Sharpe said financially the company would have preferred a John Kerry win.

"For the first time ever we turned over almost STG2 million ($A4.91 million) on a foreign election, and the biggest bets were for Bush," he said.

"For the first time ever we turned over almost STG2 million ($A4.91 million) on a foreign election, and the biggest bets were for Bush," he said.

One bet on the President of 40,000 euro ($A68,000) was taken from an internet client based in Guernsey and generated 26,500 euro ($A45,000) in winnings.

Another punter from Chicago who flew over to England to place a $US26,500 ($A35,090) bet in a London shop made US $US15,000($A20,000).

For the 2008 vote, Ladbrokes makes the Democrats 8/11 favourites and have offered even money on the Republicans but William Hill has the Republicans favourites at 8/11 and the Democrats on evens.

Ladbrokes has Hillary Clinton at 5/1 followed by former New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani at 7/1 and Kerry running mate John Edwards on 8/1.

Outsiders include Mr Kerry and current Vice President Dick Cheney at 50/1 with action movie star-turned-California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger at 66/1.

William Hill has Clinton at 6/1 with Giuliani at 7/1 and Edwards at 10/1 with Kerry on 40/1 and Cheney and Schwarzenegger each on 66/1.