|
With a new reinvigorated, battle ready and obviously...well rehearsed....Ron Paul emerging out of the latest Fox News Republican debate, his supporters are left wondering "What needs to be done now to keep up the momentum?" Simple answer: Focus on the poker communities in both Michigan and South Carolina. And they won't be hard to find. Millions of American citizens play poker and the majority of them do so online. But the poker playing community was dealt a harsh blow when last year that other Arizona Senator, Jon Kyl, ensured that an online poker prohibition measure found its way onto the unrelated but popular port security act. One of the few to vote against the prohibition was long time Republican Congressman, Ron Paul. Paul is a co-sponsor of a bill to repeal the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, along with chairmanship of the House Financial Services Committee, Barney Frank. Talk about bipartisanship! While the Poker Players Alliance would be a great place for Ron Paul supporters to approach in theory, that grass roots organization has made it clear to Gambling911.com in the past that they cannot be seen as supporting any one candidate, regardless of whether he is the best for their cause. Websites like the Two Plus Two forums have featured Paul-exclusive threads, but their reach is limited. Some online gambling firms like Bookmaker.com were instrumental in getting their customers to participate in the recent Ron Paul one day fundraising drive. But in order to achieve a larger reach, Ron Paul supporters might consider contacting some of the larger online poker rooms like your PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker. If even one of the top two online poker rooms in terms of overall real cash players were to contact their customers resideing in Michigan and South Carolina about Ron Paul's commitment to online gambling and his support of online poker legalization, the affects would be felt for sure. A lot of Ron Paul supporters play at these websites. With the 2006 Elections, the Poker Players Alliance was in fact instrumental in removing Jim Leach from office in Iowa. Leach was an architect of online gambling prohibition, though not directly responsible for the UIGEA since he claimed that legislation was "too watered down in the end". Leach enjoyed a comfortable lead over his opponent heading into Election Day. His defeat was an upset that even the local Des Moines Register reported had to do with the online poker community backlash. While Ron Paul seemed to be left for dead after his poor showing in New Hampshire (just under 8%), the good news is that nearly all the Republican candidates have been left for dead at one point or another. Some can argue that they are all pretty much left for dead right now being that the party is so fractured in who they really want representing them. The mainstream media would have everyone thinking that Paul is the last person the party would want to get the nomination. Paul supporters argue that he's the only viable candidate who could beat Hillary Clinton (and some have gone as far as to suggest that Fox News realizes this, hence, stirring up controversy that could favor the long time Texas Congressman). Paul himself argued during Thursday night's debate he's the Republican that best meets the party's needs.
When asked about
whether he was
electable, Paul said
that he is the most
conservative
candidate in the
field. Immediately following the debate, another website that covers political betting odds, Point-Spreads.com, questioned Fox News reporting: After the debate, Fox’s coverage was clearly slanted against Paul as the only negative reaction the hand picked “focus” group apparently had was towards one of Ron Paul’s responses to the out of control foreign policy spending which received a tremendous applause from the audience in attendance. People that do not like Ron Paul’s message are in complete denial of the state of our Republic. The Texas Congressman is telling it like it is and attacking the political establishment, which angers their supporters and puppets. Puppets such as Sean Hannity. Fox News has taken quite a bit of flack for failing to include Ron Paul in a recent New Hampshire Republican debate despite receiving more votes in the Iowa caucus than Rudy Giuliani and polling better than both Giuliani and Fred Thompson heading into New Hampshire. But by far one of the classic moments during Fox News "after coverage" of the debate was when "focus group" organizer, Frank Luntz, showed a "reaction graph" to one of Ron Paul's answers. The graph showed "focus group" members reacting negatively to what Paul had to say even before he started to say it. Luntz commented it was the worst reaction ever recorded from one of his "focus groups". Perhaps Luntz was breathing too hard and that caused the charts to dip so deep. ---- Christopher Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher CCostigan@CostiganMedia.com
Originally published
January 11, 2008
1:49 am EST
|
Ron
Paul Supporters Need
to Focus on What
Really Matters in
Michigan, South
Carolina....Poker