gambling is fun

during the last few months of election season, i developed a new obsession: intrade. somehow regular polls in all different media outlets were showing a tight race, which to me was pretty damn depressing. how could this race be so close? were americans really that stupid? but as we learned last night with obama's landslide victory, the polls were wrong. idiots are not the majority. my faith in america remains intact. intrade, before election night, a week, even a month before, was predicting this landslide. for weeks the possibility of an obama win crept closer to $100, while mccain was at $6 the last time i checked before switching on msnbc. i think there's a level of cynicism or jadedness revealed in my deep faith in the intrade polls. people really like money. they'll do a whole damn lot to get it. a huff post article summed it up nicely:

Polls can be inaccurate. People may say what is politically correct, the questions may be leading, the pollsters may be biased. A pollster can still bill for an inaccurate poll. Bookmakers must make an accurate line or they lose -- period.

today is such an exciting day. after such a long time of anxiety and nerve-wracking pessimism, it's finally over. i doubt i could have made it without the intrade polls. thank you, intrade. my fingernails are forever indebted to your service.