Slots Foes Dissed By Obama Too

- Another poll in Maryland - this one by a presumably neutral party - shows strong support for the slots referendum, with 62% in favor and only 36% opposed.

Bridget Frey, a spokeswoman for Marylanders United to Stop Slots, attributed the poll's findings to heavy spending by pro-slots group For Maryland For Our Future.

"We're going to spend the next two weeks pressing our efforts," Frey said. "We're confident in our grass-roots efforts." [Associated Press]

That financial advantage enjoyed by the pro-slots side has allowed it to now release a second TV commercial. This one focuses on the gambling money that Marylanders are losing outside of the state, thus, according to the ad, helping to lower taxes in West Virginia and Pennsylvania.



Again with that cutesy animation with the little kids and their parents at the end. Nice touch I must say.

The grass-roots efforts by the opponents include a push by ministers at African-American churches to use their sermons to encourage their congregations to vote against the measure. Not sure what that does for their churches' tax-exempt status. But the hope is to take advantage of the large number of blacks who have registered to vote for Senator Obama.

Unfortunately for them however, a Rasmussen poll shows that, although those who regularly attend church are more likely to oppose, 71 percent of black voters support the referendum, compared with 50 percent of white voters. [Baltimore Sun] Worse yet, the Obama campaign asked Marylanders United to Stop Slots to withdraw the Senator's name from a radio ad which noted that he has decried the "moral and social cost" of gambling, so as to avoid the candidate being involved in a local issue. The slots foes face many obstacles to be sure.