McCain or Obama: What’s a Poker Player To Do?
I have read with interest a number of blog postings and threads all over the internet, about the upcoming presidential election as it relates to us poker players. As usual, it seems no one is really on our side, except a candidate who cannot win. (Bob Barr). Obviously, it can be argued that many more important issues exist for the McCain and Obama campaigns to focus on other than online poker. That, I cannot disagree with, however, the online poker community is a large body of people and we, as a group, need to consider who best to cast our votes for in the election.
Bob Barr (Independant) is the only candidate who has come out in favor of online poker. He is quite obviously the only has who expressed an interest in online poker and the only one that we could really trust to have our best interests at heart when it comes to that issue. However, just as obviously, he cannot win and will likely not even garner anywhere near 10% of the vote.
Many people advocate casting a vote for someone such as Barr as a “statement” against the Republican party’s lack of interest in our key issue or some such drivel. I have a problem with this. Casting a vote for a candidate who cannot win is the equivalent of placing your money on the horse who approaches the starting gate with a broken leg. It just doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. Whether Obama or McCain wins, I don’t see that party sitting back in the white house saying “Gee, 3% of the population did vote for Barr! Maybe we should enact some legislation that is pro-online poker!” It just doesn’t work that way.
So, the question becomes, what do we do with out votes? I don’t have the perfect answer to that question. As a life long Republican and a staunch supporter of smaller government, it is painful to me to realize that with the Republican party’s continued attempts to pander to all things religious right, online poker is something the party as a whole is AGAINST. There is a statement on their platform that says quite simply: “Millions of Americans suffer from problem or pathological gambling that can destroy families. We support the law prohibiting gambling over the Internet.”
Hmmmm…… doesn’t seem real appetizing to me. McCain, I do respect in many ways, but statements like this on his platform are just enough to make me more than nervous about the future of online poker. As an avid online player, I just do not see how I can cast my vote for a candidate who endorses a platform with this kind of language.
I have heard it being argued by many, that traditional Republicans who are internet poker players, should vote Democrat, “this one time” The only problem with that is that the Demos have not come out in favor of online poker in either way. Seems a bit like casting our votes and then “hoping” that just because they have not come out against it, they will come out for it? I know Obama has said he “plays poker” or has played poker, but that seems to me a bit of a stretch to translate that into a man who will stand up for our rights as online poker players.
I guess as a whole I might tend to lean towards Obama on this one issue just because the Republican party is so obsessed with garnering the religious right’s approval, but that would be the only reason why. It is apparent that the religious right (see Sarah Palin) is obsessed with saving us from ourselves, and I guess that includes the “evils” of online poker, a subject that 99.9% of them are totally ignorant of and know nothing about. Maybe, I am just short sighted, as I am sure it is for my own good and along with saving me from internet poker, they probably should tell me how many glasses of wine I can drink with dinner and what TV shows I can watch as well.
However, I digress. I guess there really is no clear answer for online poker players in this election. What we need to do is consider looking at the candidates based on other issues, but I know for me, online poker is a key one. The problem is, it just isn’t a key one for any of the candidates running other than Bob Barr. It is apparent to me though, as this election year drags on, that if online poker is important to you, voting for McCain becomes less and less appealing. We will see over the coming months if any of the candidates comes out with a position on the subject, but I wouldn’t hold my breath.
