A couple of months ago I saw something I never thought I’d see in my life. A presidential candidate hooping it up with a major college basketball team in the North Carolina Tar Heels. And it wasn’t just some lame thing where Barack Obama was running at half the speed everyone else was while the players let him run through the lane and score buckets. He was playing like he belonged on the court (at least during the minute and a half clip that I saw).
Apparently basketball isn’t the only thing Obama can hang in though as he’s said to be a pretty decent Texas Hold’em and Seven Card Stud player. Barack picked the game up while he was a senator in Illinois and is known for rarely bluffing and playing very smart.
Professional poker players have taken a liking to Obama as many have voiced their support over him being president. And their support doesn’t just stem from the fact that Obama is a knowledgeable poker player but also his stance on online gambling.
Barack isn’t against online gambling like his opponent John McCain and his stance on the issue really pleases poker legend Doyle Brunson who said, “Poker players have to support Obama. God help the Internet gambling business if McCain does happen to win.” Andy Block also chimed in by saying that most of the players at the World Series of Poker were fans of Obama. “In poker you have to put yourself in the shoes of your opponents, get inside their heads and figure out what they’re thinking, what their actions mean, what they would think your actions mean, and read bluffs,” Bloch said.
It would definitely be nice to see a fellow poker player in office come November and Obama could be instrumental in helping to lift the stringent UIGEA act. I know where my vote will be going when election time rolls around.
Obama is my hero – he’ll fix my computer! And more! See http://obamawill.com
Campaign finance
Last month he announced that he would be rejecting public financing for his campaign, and would instead rely on private donations.
The McCain camp accused Mr Obama of “going back on his word”, although Mr Obama insisted that he had never made a promise to stay in the public finance system.
Surveillance programme
Mr Obama also raised eyebrows when he announced that he would not be opposing a bill going through Congress giving immunity to telephone companies involved in the Bush administration’s controversial warrantless wiretap programme.
His decision angered many of his supporters on the left, who accused him of going back on his 2007 pledge “to support a filibuster of any bill that includes retroactive immunity for telecommunications companies”.
Gun control
When the Supreme Court decided to overturn Washington DC’s handgun ban, Mr Obama declared that the ruling “provide[d] much-needed guidance”, despite having previously argued (in a written answer that he says was drafted by an aide and which he had not approved) that the ban was constitutional.
Iraq
Withdrawing troops from Iraq has long been one of the central planks of Mr Obama’s campaign, and was something that set him apart from other Democratic candidates running for the party’s presidential nomination.
Since his campaign began, however, conditions in Iraq have changed, violence has reduced, and some commentators have suggested that Mr Obama’s position is out of date.
Mr Obama himself has announced that he plans to visit Iraq, where he will make “a thorough assessment” which could lead him to “refine” his policy.
Some critics have seized on this as an indication that Mr Obama is laying the groundwork for a change in position.
Free trade
Mr Obama recently hinted to Fortune magazine that his strong anti-free trade rhetoric during the primaries may not be reflected in his actual trade policy should he become president.
His remarks are a neat summation of the pressures and temptations that lead politicians to shift their positions during the process of running for office.
“Sometimes during campaigns the rhetoric gets overheated and amplified,” he said.
“Politicians are always guilty of that, and I don’t exempt myself.”
Most people forget that a president has limited powers. It’s not like Obama could issue an executive order legalizing online gambling. He could only use the influence of his administration. McCain would be a disaster on many levels. He is already pandering to the vermin of the ‘religious’ right and his health care plan is a joke and would leave in excess of 50 million people uninsured. It would be a refreshing change to have a president who isn’t a corrupt, self righteous dimwit!
I think Ron Paul was the best bet for President to protect our freedoms, which include the freedom to gamble and play poker online.
With the way the two remaining candidates are in favor of FISA, it’s scary where this is headed.
I know Obama can’t single handedly lift the UIGEA by himself but it will definitely be better for the interests of online poker as a whole with him in office. However, there’s certainly the chance of him going back on his word as many politicians before him have.