With US presidential elections to be held later this year, of great interest to poker players is the stance of each presidential candidate with regards to the legalization of online poker. As Democrat Barack Obama vies for his re-election, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul and Rick Santorum are in the race for the Republican nomination. Here is an overview of each of these candidates on their views on online gaming.

Mitt Romney, the current Republican frontrunner, has publicly stated that he is “not in the betting business” and does not support legalized online gambling. He claims the social costs are too high, and legalization would have detrimental effects on people’s addictive habits. Rick Santorum has made similar statements in a public television interview as he told viewers he believes “gaming is not something that is beneficial,” and is a “vice” – the detrimental effects of which would “grow exponentially” if people were allowed to gamble in the comfort of their own homes.

Fellow FTR writer surviva316 recently brought us an article which revealed that Newt Gingrich‘s main financial backer is Sheldon Adelson, CEO of Las Vegas Sands Corp who has a strong financial incentive to oppose the legalization of online gaming, a clear competitor to his brick and mortar casino business. Since policy decisions can often be explained by following the money trail, even though there have not been any public statements on online gaming from Gingrich, one would be led to assume that Gingrich will be highly unlikely to take any steps to make online gaming legal.

From the Republican camp, that leaves us with Ron Paul, who has been outspokenly opposed to any government act which violates individual freedom. His answer to a direct question in a TV interview about whether he supports the legalization of online gaming should speak for itself: “I think people should have legalized freedom. People should be free to make their own decisions. There should be no regulations on the Internet.” A true libertarian, he clearly believes that banning online gaming is an infringement on people’s freedom to choose. Ron Paul is the only Republican candidate who has taken a stance in support of legalizing online poker.

And what of the current Obama administration? Recently the Justice Department has published information that states the Wire Act of 1961 does not make the sale of online lottery tickets over the internet illegal. The previous interpretation of the Wire Act made it illegal for wagers to be placed if it used telecommunications lines crossing state lines. This re-interpretation of the law has led many optimistic pro-online gaming advocates to speculate that this opens the door for full legalization of online gaming by means of allowing states to regulate and tax online gambling. In September, the Poker Players Association started an online petition to license and regulate online poker and submitted it to the White House, but the poker community has yet to receive an official reply.

In short, Ron Paul is the only politician in the running for President who has publicly declared himself to be pro-online poker. Unfortunately for our community, according to recent polls he seems highly unlikely to win the Republican nomination, whereas all other Republican candidates seem very likely to oppose legalization. A reply from the White House to the PPA petition would clarify whether a reelected Obama-led government will be supportive of licensed and regulated online poker.