Romney passes on high-stakes baseball bet

Forget those lame bets between politicians over big sporting events -- you know, those wagers of whatever food item for which a city is famous.

Republican presidential hopeful Tom Tancredo wants to put something important on the line -- his candidacy. His campaign called ABC News to issue this challenge: The Colorado congressman will drop out of the race if the Rockies lose the World Series -- if rival Mitt Romney agrees to pack it in if the Red Sox lose.

Romney has a lot at stake -- he's leading in the Iowa and New Hampshire polls, is competitive nationally, and has invested more than $17 million of his own money in his campaign. So the former Massachusetts governor is not taking the bait, even though the bet looks pretty safe -- the Sox shellacked the Rockies 13-1 in game one Wednesday night.

Asked to respond to the proposed bet, spokesman Kevin Madden issued a terse statement this morning: "The governor is in the race to win the race."

Tancredo, of course, has much less to lose. He has failed to make much headway in either the polling or in fund-raising. And, who knows, the Rockies could recapture the magic that put them in the Series to begin with, winning 21 of 22 before Wednesday night.