—
Excerpt of the rest of the discussion:
MS. CLIFT: There are actually 51 Democrats, although Joe Lieberman generally votes with the Republicans –
MR. MCLAUGHLIN: What do you do with Lieberman?
MS. CLIFT: — and Tim Johnson is ill and hasn’t been voting.
MR. MCLAUGHLIN: Is he an Independent? Where do you put him?
MS. CLIFT: He calls himself a Democratic Independent, so he’s in kind of –
MR. MCLAUGHLIN: Oh, he’s inverted the word; not an independent.
MS. CLIFT: Right, exactly. But in terms of Senator –
MR. MCLAUGHLIN: Are we supposed to keep track of that as journalists? Are we supposed to?
MS. CLIFT: (Laughs.) Yes, John.
MR. MCLAUGHLIN: All right, please continue.
The rest of the discussion is about Senator Vitter’s sexual misconduct (with the “D.C. Madam”)…
MR. MCLAUGHLIN: Exit question — quick exit question: Is it your intuition that this is the last we will hear about Senator Vitter’s subterranean life, if that’s what it is? Or is there more to come, another shoe to drop?
This question (among plenty of others) could lead to the formation of what I call a “flash prediction market”, that is, something that could be settled quite rapidly as political events unfold. InTrade and NewsFutures are not structured to offer such “flash prediction markets”.
