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WESTMINSTER, Colo. — John McCain bet with $100 chips. Barack Obama threw nickels around like they were manhole covers.
Maybe that’s why Obama thinks it’s a subject worth harping on — even though both men played in the company of lobbyists.
Betting habits of the presidential candidates are a hot topic on the campaign trail in the wake of a report that McCain played at a casino table he oversaw as a member of a Senate committee.
As even a casual player knows, you can learn a lot about people by the games they play — and the places they lay down their money.
Campaigning here Monday, Obama took a jab at McCain based on the latest from The New York Times. The paper reported over the weekend that McCain played high-stakes rounds at a craps table at a Connecticut casino with a lobbyist for the Mashantucket Pequot tribe.
McCain was a chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, which has a lot to say about the laws that govern Native American casinos.
Speaking to the crowd at a high school, Obama tied the gambling story to Washington’s—which is to say, McCain’s—failure to prevent the Wall Street crisis.
“I read the other day that Sen. McCain likes to gamble,” Obama said. “He likes to roll those dice. And that’s OK. I have a little confession, I enjoy a little friendly game of poker myself every now and then.
“But one thing I know is this—we can’t afford to gamble on four more years of the same disastrous economic policies we’ve had for the last eight.”
There’s potentially a bonus payout for Obama in stoking the gaming story. It’s already picking up steam with social conservatives who don’t take kindly to the idea of McCain gambling.
But as Obama notes, he has played a game or two himself. When he was a member of the Illinois Senate, Obama was a regular member of a poker group that members referred to as “The Committee Meeting.”
His frugal way with betting earned the Democrat a reputation of stinginess. He didn’t take many risks with his own money, said one former colleague.
“I only wish that the agenda of Barack Obama would be as conservative as the poker he played,” said state Sen. Bill Brady, a Republican businessman who joined in the poker nights when Obama was a member.
Friends tell the story of Obama’s poker days as a sign of his non-partisan nature, because some of the pals he played with were Republicans and because of where they gathered. They often played at the headquarters of the Illinois Manufacturers’ Association, a group with goals often at odds with those of Democrats like Obama.
But, as Brady also noted Monday, the participants in the poker games he played with Obama were often about 50-50 lawmakers and lobbyists.
Like Obama, Republicans are also trying to turn the metaphor to their purpose.
“During this economic downturn, Americans aren’t willing to bet on a wild card, they want the best odds for their money, and that’s why they are voting for John McCain,” said Chris Taylor, a spokesman for the Republican National Committee.
For his part, McCain campaigned with running mate Sarah Palin in Columbus, Ohio, where he attacked Obama for advocating tax-and-spend policies that McCain said “will deepen our recession.” Palin said she is looking forward to Thursday’s debate with Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware.
Obama, meanwhile, was set to spend the night in Reno, in preparation for a rally there Tuesday. Aides said he did not plan to patronize the local gaming industry while in town.
Christi Parsons reported from Colorado and Ray Long from Springfield; Tribune news services contributed to this report.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-campaign30sep30,0,6036479.story
As a united states citizen, at the risk of being kicked out, also a conservitive Christian, it was so nice and polite of you to bring an article that seemed to me as non bias and non American bashing.
Seriously, thank you for that. I really do appreciate a topic without the spin of bumper sticker politics.
I was really starting to feel very uncomfortable in here.
Thank you for taking some of that bad feeling away.
I was really starting to feel very uncomfortable in here.
Hi,
no need to feel uncomfy here my friend. I think mods will back me up when i say everybody’s opinion is valued, we just appreciate it when they project that opinion … that it is in a civil and intelligent way.
and if that don’t work for ya…. there’s a lot of threads here that have nothing to do with politics.
@bud405n 178426 wrote:
As a united states citizen, at the risk of being kicked out, also a conservitive Christian, it was so nice and polite of you to bring an article that seemed to me as non bias and non American bashing.
Seriously, thank you for that. I really do appreciate a topic without the spin of bumper sticker politics.
I was really starting to feel very uncomfortable in here.
Thank you for taking some of that bad feeling away.
I for one value everyones opinion because it helps us all learn and grow so please don’t feel uncomfortable. You are able to speak your peace just like the rest of us. Sometimes tempers fly, but it’s normal and will continue to happen.
This online thing can be brutal sometimes and some folks get out of hand, but thats life. Everyone does not have the respect that is needed in society so you just have to ignore them and live on.
