I receive press releases from Paddy Power, “Ireland’s largest bookmaker and a leading provider of gaming services in the UK, Australia and Ireland.” Most of the releases reflect predictable shifts in odds, but today’s release indicates how suddenly and dramatically the Republican primary changed in South Carolina: “While Romney remains the favourite for the Republican nomination, his odds have taken a significant slide from 1/14 to 2/5, while Gingrich’s odds have been chopped from 6/1 before the South Carolina Primary to 2/1.”

(The legality of betting on elections is a bit vague. Chicago-based Nadex filed a request with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to list contracts on the victor of the 2012 presidential race and the majority parties in the House and Senate.)

You can also bet on which cliché Obama will use first in Tuesday’s State of the Union Address:

Cliché Betting: What Will Obama say first
8/1 We have more work to do 10/1 Health Care reform 10/1 As I stand here today 12/1 Fundamental belief 12/1 God Bless America 12/1 Crossroads of history 12/1 Defining moment 12/1 Make Washington work 14/1 Common purpose 16/1 Pursuit of happiness 16/1 Building a better America 16/1 Reduce the deficit 18/1 War on terror 18/1 It won’t be easy 18/1 Hungry for change 18/1 My civil liberties 20/1 Honour for me 20/1 I have a dream 20/1 Willing to listen to each other 20/1 Yes, we can 20/1 Don’t get me wrong 25/1 Hard to believe 25/1 I’m fired up 25/1 Withdraw our troops 25/1 There are better days ahead 25/1 Do Nothing Congress 25/1 We’ll have to make hard choices 25/1 We can be one people 25/1 A new direction 33/1 For far too long 33/1 Safe from harm 33/1 Jobs to the jobless 33/1 Reshapes our economy 40/1 Deepest gratitude 40/1 Greatness of our nation 40/1 Possibilities of this nation 40/1 Florida Primary 50/1 Believe in what this country can be 50/1 Unity is the great need of the hour 50/1 In the face of despair, you believe there can be hope 50/1 We can work together to keep our country safe 50/1 Abiding faith 66/1 Brighter day will come 66/1 Publish tax returns 66/1 Washington has a long way to go 80/1 Overcome the adversity 80/1 Bloated federal government 100/1 Diversity of my heritage 100/1 Yes, we might 250/1 Life is like a box of chocolates

“Don’t get me wrong”? Well, his critics would probably say he’s less of a doer than a Pretender . . .