All bets are on for presidential pooch

By William Mann  |   2008-12-25  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

WHATEVER the Obamas name their presidential dog, odds are they might make somebody in the British Isles quite happy.

The Dublin-based bookmaker Paddy Power PLC, which is known for placing odds on often weird subject matter, said on Tuesday that more than 1,000 bettors have laid money on names for the so-far-nonexistent "mutt" the US president-elect promised his daughters as a White House-warming gift.

The puppy-name gambling is "one of the many markets that bettors have been going crazy over since Obama was elected," a company spokesman, who is also named Paddy Power, wrote in an e-mail.

Other Barack Obama topics include who will play him in the first Hollywood feature film and whether daughters Malia or Sasha will grow up to become president. In the movie betting, "Will Smith is a red hot favorite," Power wrote.

The puppy entered the picture on November 4, as Barack Obama claimed election victory over Republican John McCain. He told Malia, 10, and seven-year-old Sasha that the result meant he would give them the puppy he had promised.

Neither a breed nor a name was mentioned, although he later said he expected the dog to be "a mutt like me." "Mutt" is an American word meaning a mixed-breed dog; Obama's father was a black Kenyan, his mother a white American.

The announcement set off weeks of speculation that only recently began to taper off as the United States' economic predicament worsened and Obama necessarily turned to more serious subjects such as putting together a government to face the political, economic and military challenges he will inherit after he succeeds President George W. Bush on January 20.

On the name of the puppy, Power said all bets are small, 10 euros (US$14) or 20 euros, but the list is long.

As of last week, the list included "Washington," at 10 to 1 odds, and "Kennedy," 25 to 1. Also in the running, at 500 to 1, is "Osama."