DNC Ignores Online Gambling, For Now

Those of us in the online gambling community who were hoping the 2012 US Presidential Elections would offer a new reality must now face up to the fact that neither of the major parties wants to touch this issue.

Democrats silent, Republicans opposed

Silence was the response from the Democratic National Convention on the issue of online gambling. Rather than follow the lead of great supporters of gambling and poker freedom like Barney Frank, delegates to the convention simply did not mention a word about the issue - and that can only be a bad thing.

The sad thing is that the Democrats' non-mention is preferable to the few signs of gambling policy that came out of the GOP convention. The Republics are the only ones talking about online poker, and they're not in favor of legalization; rather key policymakers are speaking about destroying online gaming and other personal freedoms.

So what does this mean?

It is absurd that the one side (the Democrats) who online gambling operators and consumers thought they could rely on is keeping silent, after all it's a multibillion dollar industry we're talking about. On the other hand this is expected, as gaming is a hot potato that only a politician with courage would talk about.

Optimists will still be hoping that something gives way during the next four years and that the UIGEA is overturned, regardless of whether America is governed by an Obama or a Romney administration. But whether legislation is introduced and what form it will take is still unknown.