Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels has a better chance of winning the Republican nomination than Rick Santorum, at least according to the prediction market on Intrade.
The gamblers on “the world’s leading prediction market” gave Daniels a 2.5 percent chance of winning the nomination as of Tuesday night, while Santorum — a former senator from Pennsylvania and current presidential contender — had a slightly more miserable 1.2 percent chance.
Americans who make it all the way through President Barack Obama’s State of the Union speech Tuesday night will be greeted by Daniels as he takes center-screen for the Republican response.
This is the same Mitch Daniels that some Republicans — led by the Weekly Standard’s Bill Kristol — are pining for to make a late entry into the GOP field, despite his categorical refusal to run this cycle.
The Daily Caller’s Matt Lewis notes that even if Daniels were to make a surprise entry, it would not be without toting his own baggage into the race.
Daniels “is a smart and serious man,” writes Lewis, but when it comes to his record he’s “offended social conservatives by saying we should have a ‘truce‘ on social issues — and fiscal conservatives by speaking favorably of a VAT tax.”
Meanwhile, Santorum is struggling to gain ground in Florida as Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney jockey for the lead ahead of that state’s primary.