The use of lobbyists in Washington, DC can be a thorny subject. According to the K Street stereotype, lobbyists are little more than bagmen, ferrying cash from an industry or specific company into the slush fund or campaign war chest of this or that member of Congress. The reality is nowhere near as sordid, provided that you’re willing to view the world from a perspective of realpolitik, not clinging to utopian expectations that good men will always do what’s best for the country.
An estimated 82.5m Americans voted in the 2010 midterm elections. To personally lobby each and every voter would require an investment of money and time that no company on earth, let alone an online gaming firm, could afford. By comparison, there are only 535 members of Congress, and their votes actually matter when it comes to making new laws or revising old ones. As the kids say, do the math.
The opponents of online gambling are certainly not shy about investing in lobbyists. The last round of public disclosure figures showed that, all by itself, the National Football League was spending millions to maintain the status quo, i.e. a total ban on sports betting outside of Nevada. Viewed in that context, the lack of progress made thus far on pro-online gaming legislation at the federal level is ample evidence that our industry is simply not spending enough on lobbying. We have been bringing our knives to this gunfight for far too long. It’s time to arm ourselves with the weapons we need to achieve a political victory.
During World War II, Russia instituted a program whereby factory workers or members of a collective farm could pool their resources and ‘buy’ a specific weapon of war: a T-34 tank, a Stormovik ground attack aircraft, etc. By doing so, the Russian peasants were made to feel that they had made a tangible contribution to the war effort beyond the hours they put in making ball bearings or bailing hay. A piece of their personal property was out there actually fighting the Germans, fighting for their personal freedom. We need to engage the gambling public in the same way.
In the coming weeks, we’ll be unveiling details of our new “Join The Fight” program, whereby online gaming sites and affiliates can post a link on their sites from which bettors can make their own contributions to our lobbying efforts. After all, it’s their fight, too, so why not engage them in the struggle? The legislative roads must be made clear so that upstanding publicly traded companies can ride to victory.
