US Democratic debate odds: Will Joe Biden hug anyone?

The first U.S. Democratic primary has come and gone, and depending on which political analyst you like, several of the candidates might have won the night. Most agree that Elizabeth Warren, the frontrunner of the first 10 candidates, faired pretty well. Beto O’Rourke shocked everyone, Cory Booker especially, by kicking off the linguistic Olympics. New York Mayor Bill DeBlasio, confident in his progressive platform, got the hashtag #hornyforbilldeblasio trending.

But everyone knows that this was just the appetizer. The main course will be June 27, when frontrunners Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders take the debate stage, and Bodog has a nice selection of odds for what will happen.

Andrew Yang, who notably can’t speak Spanish very well, is the subject of our first prop. The Entrepreneur is a big advocate for a Universal Basic Income (UBI), so his prop is an over/under of how many times he will mention this key policy. It’s even odds (20/23) that he will mention the policy more or less than two times. I like the over, and I expect him to bring it up on atleast two questions unrelated to the topic, likely negotiations with Iran and the possible impeachment of Donald Trump.

The next prop concerns the young Mayor of South Bend, Indiana, Pete Buttigieg, and an over/under of how many times other candidates will mispronounce his last name, with the number set at 1.5. Odds favor the under (1/4), as most refer to him as Mayor Pete now and that’s likely what they would do on stage, if they name him at all. I personally expect Biden to refer to him as “My little buddy.”