Poker or Craps? Both!
Poker or Craps? Both! The Democratic National Committee was reported to have purchased ads on politically active religious websites to push the story of John McCain's gambling history. The New York Times had run a story on Sunday discussing McCain's enjoyment of craps, and detailed an incident at Foxwoods Casino when McCain played with several of his current advisers, some of whom had been gambling advocates and lobbyists.

The DNC is hoping to lower voter turnout among a group that votes almost exclusively Republican. Apparently, the goal is to show religious groups that McCain is more like the Democrats than the right would wish.

However, Democratic leaders are glossing over a USA Today story from July, which read, "On Wednesday nights during Illinois General Assembly sessions, a group of lobbyists and lawmakers used to gather at the headquarters of the Illinois Manufacturers' Association for a weekly poker game. Barack Obama, who represented part of Chicago as state senator from 1997-2004, was a regular."

Obama is known to enjoy poker, and friendly association with lobbyists doesn't prove any wrong-doing or inappropriate behavior. Of course, the same is true of McCain, but the DNC would cast that in a different light to anti-gambling forces.

The case might be made that being at ease with gambling puts the candidates into a more human perspective, and shows them in touch with mainstream society. After all, if poker shows are found all over cable television, and casino ads frequent the airwaves, the average American clearly accepts the choice to gamble as a natural process.

Democrats might wish to campaign on McCain's similarities to conservative religious factions, not his differences.