Joe Biden's Son to Lobby for Online Casino Regulation
As Barney Frank prepares to once again attempt to move legislation proposing the regulation of online casinos through his Financial Services Committee, reports are coming in that Hunter Biden, son of Vice-Presidential candidate Joe Biden, will be lobbying on behalf of Internet gaming interests.
The younger Biden's law firm, Oldaker, Biden and Belair, has filled out papers registering as hired lobbyists for PartyGaming owner Russ DeLeon. PartyGaming is based out of Gibralter.
While this move is sure to inspire outrage from the radical religious right and long-winded speeches full of misinformation from demagogues like Spencer Bachus, the fact is that business interests like DeLeon's are forced to hire lobbyists just to try to offset the tremendous lobbying pressure applied by special interest groups like Focus on the Family, James Dobson's voting bloc that asks members to besiege Congressmen against causes of freedom, like the right to choose to gamble online.
Much may be made of Hunter Biden's acceptance of money to represent a billionaire's interests, but at least Biden will not have to manufacture evidence or quote non-existing statistics and studies to make his point.
The fact is that presenting a compelling case for legalization and regulation of Internet gambling may be the easiest job this law firm contracts to do this year. Every criticism made of online gaming by Focus' Chad Hills is most effectively served by regulation, as opposed to a ban.
Biden's greatest challenge may be convincing timid Republicans that they can vote for the country's best interests without fearing the mudslinging reprisals of the Focus group.
If McCain campaign strategists decide to make Hunter Biden's position as a lobbyist an issue, they could make a case that all lobbying is bad for the average citizen. But that would most certainly include Focus and other religious zealots pressuring Representatives to ignore truth and vote in line with their beliefs. If the online gaming issue becomes a point of criticism, McCain may find gamblers and libertarians are prepared to vote as a group also, causing a disastrous backfire in strategy.
