"
Fantasy Politics". The title alone probably conjures up thoughts of insults thrown out at
true believers, the naïve amongst us (politically speaking), and so on. Ah, but that would be incorrect. I'm talking about a literal fantasy league for politics.
Intrade, the site I spoke of before that allows you to actually gamble (with real money) on all kinds of strange things, including politics, has teamed up with
RealClearPolitics for
RCP Fantasy '08. It can be found at
http://fantasy08.realclearpolitics.com . You get to buy and sell contracts on things like who's going to be the next President, what will the voter turnout be, who will pull out of the race, Senate and Governor races, will Gore get in or not, etc. Thankfully it's
fake money.
I've done fantasy baseball (did okay), and fantasy hockey (back to back champ) and the key I found was to not get too attached or sentimental. That is if you want to win or place decently (why bother if you're don't?). For instance, in hockey I'd occasionally hold my nose and pick a
Redwing. Sure, I felt soiled, but if it helped the overall good of my team, I'd lower myself to that. In baseball, being a longtime Angel and Dodger fan, it was tough to stomach any
Yankee or
Red Sox players, considering what they put my teams through in the 70's and 80's. But that's all been erased by more recent and pleasant outcomes.
I'm not much of a fantasy leaguer, but what I found while playing is how much you learn about the game and the players, cause and effect and all that. No different with politics. Someone makes a gaffe or takes a hit in the polls, expect their fantasy stock price to dip. Someone gets an endorsement, or you think they may, buy some stock in them and ride the wave. The more you stay informed and ahead of the game, the better you do. And the more you stay informed, obviously. Sort of a circle.
Now, if this is too much for you, you can always bet on: do "Women talk 10% more", when the BirdFlu will hit the U.S.A., when will Katie Couric leave CBS, or if O.J. will go on trial - yes, those are really things Intrade lets you gamble on. Me, I just bought 100 shares in Bill Richardson as Democratic VP Nominee.
©2007 Chris Rodriguez/Wrongmont.Com
(Chris Rodriguez is a Longmont resident, and the editor and publisher of Wrongmont.Com, a community website that raises local issues to increase public awareness and interest)