By Pratik Chougule
During the second CFTC comment period on Kalshi’s proposed election contracts, the Center for American Progress (CAP) submitted a letter in opposition to the proposal.
What’s significant about this to me is that CAP, unlike Public Citizen, is not a grassroots movement. They’re real insiders.
While CAP is explicitly left-wing, they’re also relationships with the Democratic Party establishment. CAP is a major think tank that has close ties to the White House and the Democrats that move in and out of positions of power in Washington.
I highly doubt that Kalshi anticipated that CAP would weigh in against them so strongly.
CAP’s move against Kalshi strikes me as being a particular bad harbinger for the future of election betting.
Insofar as there was any chance of a high-profile, left-wing organization in DC supporting Kalshi—or at least exploring the proposal with an open mind—it might have been an organization like CAP.
For my further thoughts on this development, see my podcast with Mick Bransfield at Stars Spangled Gamblers.
Pratik Chougule is the executive director of the Coalition for Political Forecasting
