Gambling Mogul Sheldon Adelson Plans To Launch A Public Campaign Against Internet Gambling
The Washington Post's Peter Wallsten and Tom Haburger report the Las Vegas Sands CEO will launch a campaign early next year portraying Internet gambling as dangerous to children and unfairly targeting the poor.
"In my 15 years of working with him, I don't think I have ever seen him this passionate about any issue," Andy Abboud, Adelson's top political adviser, tells the post.
That might be because the online gambling, if legalized, has been projected out as a $50 billion industry, if sports betting gets included.
In 2011, a Justice Department ruling allowed states to enact their own online gambling statutes. So far Nevada, New Jersey, and Delaware have legalized it, and more than a dozen additional states have also looked into doing so.
Adelson and his wife spent nearly $100 million on Republican causes in the 2012 election, with mixed results. The Post says he is hoping Congress will issue a national ban, and has already hired three former high-powered elected officials, including former New York governor George Pataki, as lobbyists.
"This could be our 'Joe Camel' moment," Abboud said.