The third and final Leaders debate takes place tonight on BBC1 and Gordon Brown will once again be hooked up to a microphone but they’ll be no “bigoted woman” thrust in front of him just David Dimbleby. Yep, this week has been one of extreme pain for the Prime Minister and his party.

In a week when we had scientists proclaiming they had found Noah’s Ark, again, we also had kids tv favourite, Peppa Pig, snubbing a Labour party launch. Believe me, when a cartoon character starts giving you the cold shoulder, you can safely say the writing is on the wall for Labour.

But the best was yet to come for Labour and Brown. In an extraordinary gaffe, the Prime Minister, forgot he was hooked up to a radio microphone and after some tepid questioning by Rochdale pensioner, Gillian Duffy, she fired off the immigration silo, to which Brown batted away expertly, it has to be said. But once Brown took shelter in the comfort of his chauffered car, he went on a mini rant and eventually called Mrs Duffy a “bigoted woman” forgetting he was still miked up.

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It wasn’t long ago jokes like these were commonplace in pubs up and down the country..

• Q: How do you keep a Lib Dem Politician busy?
• A: Write ‘Please turn over’ on both sides of a piece of paper.
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• Q: How do you keep a Lib Dem Politician busy all day?
• A: Put him in a round room and tell him to wait in the corner.

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In a matter of weeks, the date for a General Election, will be announced. According to some parliamentary experts, the likely date will be around the beginning of May. That’s a little over 14 weeks away. And the question many political betting punters are asking is : “Can Gordon Brown really expect to turn things around before the election?”

Yesterday, a haphazard attempt to undermine Brown’s leadership was hatched by labour backbencher, Geoff Hoon. A letter was released to all Labour MP’s calling for a secret ballot on the leadership of the party. However, not one of the Labour heavyweights stood behind it and soon the attempt to boot Brown out from NO.10 before the next General Election fizzled and disappeared just as quickly as it had arose.

But, it’s left a mark on the PM and it highlights that Gordon Brown’s jacket is on a shoogly peg.

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Today, America will wake and head in record numbers to the polling station to elect their next President. For John McCain and Barack Obama, after a mammoth 2 years campaigning trail, one man will go onto become the leader of the most powerful nation on Earth.

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I say right from the outset that I’ll do my best not to fall into the cynic trap in writing this piece so I’ll do it from the point of view of a hard-nosed campaign manager whose only thoughts are victory. The ‘Barack and his grandmother’ factor cannot be ignored. First thoughts might have been that he was risking everything by going off to visit a sick relative at a critical time in his campaign for the presidency. Initial campaign analysis signalled it as a big risk. Dropping out of election addresses in Wisconsin and Iowa, both states crucial to his success, was not a good plan. His absence from the nightly TV news would be a disaster. Then thoughts of the sympathy factor crept in – poor Barack with his ill granny. That will probably balance things out.

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It’s been a campaign of ups and downs for Barack Obama in what was originally expected to be an easy stroll to the White house for the first black presidential nominee from either of the two main political parties. For a start, online political betting enthusiasts have been baffled by the apparent ease with which women voters can switch their allegiance from Hilary Clinton to John McCain seemingly just to express their irritation for the rejection, in the primaries, of their female delegate. Can you imagine a female Labour Party supporter voting for Cameron because she didn’t get her first choice of parliamentary candidate?

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With the Democratic Convention opening in Denver, Colorado there is renewed interest among political betting enthusiasts about the prospects of Barack Obama in the race for the White House, which culminates in the Presidential election in November. Hugely successful with voters in his appeal for change, Obama must now look to putting the ‘meat on the bones’ by outlining his policies and satisfying the question lingering in the minds of many Americans, ‘change – but change what?’

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Pennsylvania Primary  Tue 22 April – Judgement day looms in the political betting world for Hilary Clinton in her seemingly doomed efforts to secure the Democratic nomination for the forthcoming presidential election. Online betting enthusiasts have enjoyed a roller coaster of a campaign with ups and downs for both she and Barack Obama in a contest which has now degenerated into mudslinging of a kind rarely seen outside of Republican v. Democrat electioneering. Senior Democrat officials are concerned that lasting damage is being done to both candidates.

Tomorrow’s Pennsylvania Primary should sort things out, though, with Hilary needing a double figure victory to stay in the race. Right now she is about six points ahead of Obama but the gap is closing and it’s not looking good for her. Not a quitter she will have to be dragged out of the race but there seems little likelihood of her surviving beyond tomorrow. With betting on Obama at around 2/9 and Clinton 3/1 there’s not much fun to be had there anyway.

Which leaves the intriguing prospect of a John McCain vs Barack Obama presidential race. McCain is currently offered at 5/4 to be the next President while Obama is set at evens. Barack fans should note, however that online betting sites are offering 7/4 on a Democrat victory while the Republicans are given a 5/4 chance.

If a week is a long time in politics then seven months must be several lifetimes and much can happen before November. Nobody seems to have noticed, for example, the similarity in names of the Republican candidate and Die Hard hero, John McClane. We’re talking America here. It’s things like this that can make the difference.

The gloves are off in the race for the Democratic Nomination for President and the two remaining candidates, Barack Obama and Hilary Clinton have accused each other if negative campaigning in last night’s TV debate. Political betting fans are aware of the crucial importance of the forthcoming primaries in Ohio and Texas and if Hilary loses in these two states, we may well see her withdrawal from the contest.

Barack has won the last eleven primaries and caucuses and. To the untrained eye, he may well seem to be on an unstoppable roll. Shrewd adherents of sports betting, however, will have spotted a new force emerging; the phenomenon of what has been called the ‘Baracklash’.

It is entirely predictable, these days that, once a new star has been created by the media, that same media will then begin a process of dragging down their hero. Suddenly the flaws in Barack’s character and experience are being noticed and a slip, albeit a small one, is emerging in his ratings.

Polls show that Barack will have a clear majority against John McCain when it comes to the presidential Election. This may well be pushing some democrats in his direction. However, public opinion is more complex than that and, should Hilary become the choice of the Democrats, the public will reassess their voting inclinations and she may well emerge as President when the dust settles.

Because of these polls and because Barack is the current front runner you can currently get from 7/2 to 9/2 on Hilary emerging as President. It might be time to take up a few of those free bets and place your faith in her.

The contest to become presidential candidate is becoming tenser as ‘Super Tuesday’ looms this week when 24 states vote for their choice of both Republican and Democratic presidential candidates. Political betting sites are buzzing under the weight of wagers in what has become the sort of fascinating contest that only happens every twenty years or so.

The reasons for this are many. People are weary of the incumbent administration and there is a sniff of radical change in the air. This lends an air of confidence to the Democrats but times are hard in America and the world in general and people usually turn to the Right when they want tough decisions made. At the same time, there is the difficult-to-resist offer of a black man or a woman as potential President – something new to Americans. Many will be fascinated to see what such a change might bring.

Furthermore, the battle between the black man, Barack Obama and the woman, Hilary Clinton has become an intriguing one for betting punters. Prejudice, both racial and gender, abounds in America and each candidate has had to transcend this by presenting themselves as especially remarkable candidates. This has not been impossible because the American Dream encourages and wants people to be remarkable and to transcend difficulties. Online betting fans will have a field day in considering all these factors before making their choice.

The contest has boiled down, realistically, to four hopefuls with Obama and Clinton in the Democratic camp and Romney and McCain for the Republicans. It’s been an up and down ride for Obama and Clinton, with Hilary currently the bookies favourite at around 4/7. Obama is around 5/4 but a good speech or a bad mistake either way and these odds could easily change. McCain is serious Republican favourite at 1/8 with Romney 9/2. It’s hard to see McCain slipping from this position and the more interesting bet has to be with the Democrats.