Tim Tebow as vice president, 5 other long-shot candidates
One online gaming house is taking bets on Tim Tebow as Mitt Romney’s running mate, even though it’s a constitutional no-no. Here’s a look at Tebow, and some other rumored candidates who probably won’t run with Romney.
Tim Tebow
The folks at Ladbrokes, who offer “prop bets” on U.S. elections, have Tebow as a 200-1 bet as Romney’s running mate this fall. (If you think the Tebow issue isn’t serious, Fox News recently did a segment on it.)
Link: Check Current GOP VP Odds
Those are long odds for any candidate, but it’s also a sure bet for Ladbrokes, since the U.S. Constitution bars Tebow from running, at least for now, for office as vice president or president.
The reason? It’s not because Tebow was born in the Philippines (his parents were U.S. citizens).
It’s because the 12th Amendment bars anyone under the age of 35 from running for president or vice president.
Glenn Beck
Ladbrokes puts another pop culture figure in the same class as Tebow: radio and TV show host Glenn Beck.
Unlike Tebow, Beck is eligible to run for the highest office in the land. Beck, 48, was born in Everett, Washington. Beck also has been praising Romney.
But he just signed a $100 million radio contract, and would need to put that on hold to run for office.
Donald Trump
Another media star is listed as a 100-1 shot of getting the nomination as vice president: Donald Trump.
Trump has his lucrative contract with NBC for “The Apprentice,” and he was told by NBC when he flirted with a presidential bid to make a choice: take our money or be fired.
Trump picked the NBC Peacock over the Oval Office.
Michael Bloomberg
The online site InTrade, which runs a speculation market on political candidates, also has some interesting long-shot candidates who are getting some interest among gamers.
Michael Bloomberg, the current New York City mayor, is on the list of potential candidates that InTrade members can speculate on.
Of course, Bloomberg has a job currently, left the Republican party in 2007 and is the 11th-richest person in the United States. (If he were to run, Bloomberg could be his own super PAC.)
David Petraeus
A more serious name that pops up among the vice presidential long shots is David Petraeus, the current Central Intelligence Agency director and retired four-star U.S. Army general.
Petraeus is a registered Republican but he told Fox News in 2010 that he hadn’t voted since 2002.
Fred Smith
And one name that is on the betting board online is Fred Smith. Ladbrokes has Smith at the same odds as Cathy McMorris Rodgers and Allen West.
If you follow the business news, you’ll know Smith as the founder of Federal Express. He also was a fraternity brother of George W. Bush at Yale and worked with John McCain’s campaign in 2008.
Smith was also briefly mentioned as a running mate for McCain in 2008, before he picked then-Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.
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