Home / Poker News November 2012 / Obama Wins Second Term – What Does it Mean for Online Poker?
Obama Wins Second Term – What Does it Mean for Online Poker?
Posted by: James Carter. - Wed, 2012-11-07 10:06
The US election, especially its presidential side, has long been viewed as a major factor concerning the prospects of legal and regulated
online poker in the US in the near future. Online poker advocates have always preached that it would be best for the industry if President Barack Obama managed to secure a second term.
According to PPA executive director John Pappas, the preservation of the status quo is always best for getting things done during the lame-duck session. Whenever the House, the Senate or the White House change hands, lame-duck deal making opportunities are pretty much lost as the winners prefer to wait it out till all their guys are in place, which usually means waiting it out till next year.
On top of that, Mitt Romney has made it clear during the campaign that he was absolutely opposed to facilitating access to online gambling and poker in any shape or form, so it has become obvious that Republican support for the Reid/Kyl bill would’ve been pretty much undermined had Romney managed to clinch the White House.
By far the worst case scenario would’ve been a massive Republican victory, with both the White House and the Senate changing hands, in which case supporters of legal online poker would probably have been forced to give up all hope, not only for the lame duck session but possibly for the upcoming 4 years as well.
Everything considered, the bottom line is that the odds didn’t vanish for legal online poker. On the downside though, online poker’s biggest nemesis, Rep. Spencer Bacchus has been reelected too.
The PPA has endorsed numerous incumbents in the House and a couple in the Senate as well.
The only challenger-endorsement, that of Jim Graves, proved to be a lost cause too as Michelle Bachman retained her seat.
