BOOKMAKER TO PAY OUT EARLY ON OBAMA VICTORY

By Kevin Smith

DUBLIN (Reuters) - Ireland's biggest bookmaker said on Thursday it would pay out more than 1 million euros ($1.35 million) on bets that Barack Obama will be the next U.S. president, three weeks before the election.

Dublin-based bookmaker Paddy Power said it made the "unprecedented decision" to pay on bets taken so far, following Wednesday's final campaign debate between Obama and his Republican rival John McCain, which polls judged the Democrat to have won.

"We declare this race well and truly over and congratulate all those who backed Obama," Power said in a statement.

"Although he seemed a little out of sorts in last night's final debate we believe he has done more than enough to get him across the line on November 4."

The bookmaker said the overall betting trend had shown "one-way traffic" for the Illinois senator since the start of the summer, with odds shortening to 1-9, meaning a bet of 9 euros is required to make 1 euro profit.

The odds on McCain winning are 5-1.

Power said it had taken more than 10,000 bets on the 2008 U.S. presidential election, the majority in support of Obama.

In June a wager of 100,000 euros was placed on Obama to win at odds of 1-2, it added.

However, the bookmaker does not always get it right.

In June it paid out more than 80,000 euros in bets that Irish voters would back the European Union's Lisbon treaty in a referendum shortly before the electorate returned a resounding "no."

JOE THE PLUMBER: NOT A LICENSED PLUMBER

HE OWES BACK TAXES TOO


By Robert Barnes

Joe the Plumber is not exactly a plumber, he's "not even close" to making the kind of money that would result in higher taxes from Democrat Barack Obama's proposals and has such an aversion to taxes that a lien was filed against him by the state of Ohio.

Such is the whirlwind of information that has come out about Joe Wurzelbacher of Holland, Ohio, since Republican John McCain made him famous in last night's debate. McCain mentioned him more than 20 times to use him as a symbol of hard-working Americans who would be hurt by Obama's tax policies. Obama and Wurzelbacher met earlier in the week in Toledo, where Wurzelbacher said Obama's plans to raise taxes on those making $250,000 a year or more would penalize him in his plans to buy the plumbing business for which he works.

Wurzelbacher since then has been on Fox News, interviewed by CBS's Katie Couric and appeared on ABC's "Good Morning America."

Not all the attention has been welcomed. Wurzelbacher, 34, told the Associated Press that he was not a licensed plumber. Because he works for a small company that does residential work, he said, he doesn't need to be licensed.

Wurzelbacher, whose legal name is Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher, owes the state of Ohio $1,182 in personal income taxes, according to tax records that show a lien for that amount filed against him in January 2007.

Wurzelbacher said he is of modest means, but worried Obama's tax plans would eventually hurt him. "You see my house. I don't have a lot of bells and whistles in here, really. My truck's a couple of years old and I'm going to have it for the next 10 years probably. So I don't see [Obama] helping me out,'' he told reporters this morning.

He also sounded concerned about the attention he is receiving. "I'm completely flabbergasted with this whole thing and just hope I'm not making too much of a fool of myself and hope I can get my message out there," he said.

SARAH "HOCKEY MOM" PALIN BOOED IN PHILLY

Check out the Obama-Biden signs in the crowd!

It's hard to blame Sarah Palin for her booing on the ice in Philadelphia this evening. It's almost a truism of politics that if you send a pol to a sporting event, he's going to get booed. Politicians, as a class, aren't all that popular, and it's what sports fans do. According to legend, Eagles fans once booed Santa Claus. Still, not a great moment.

The Times hockey blog says the boos were "resounding." The Wilmington paper says it was an "avalanche."

The booing of Palin (and her young daughter) was also predicted by sports types who spoke to my colleague Ken Vogel before the game.

“I am surprised that the candidate would go on the ice in Philly — Philly fans threw snowballs at Santa Claus and booed Beyonce because she was wearing a Michael Jordan dress," said Ted Leonsis, owner of the Washington Capitals, a conference rival of the Flyers. "This is dangerous territory.”

Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, a former Philly mayor and big fan of the town’s sports teams, also said before the game he didn’t think the puck-drop was a good idea.

“Sports and politics, I believe, never mix,” Rendell told Politico after introducing Barack Obama at a North Philadelphia rally. “But the mayor threw out the first pitch at the Phillies game and he got a standing ovation,” Rendell said of Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, who also attended the rally and was standing beside Rendell.

“It was a strike,” Nutter deadpanned.