![\"gary](\"http://old.pokerati.com/wp-content/uploads/gary-johnson-poker.jpg\" "\\"gary-johnson-poker\\"")
Presidential hopeful Gary Johnson (R-NM) came to the WSOP this year to show his support for online poker efforts, as well as drum up support for his White House run.
He took note of online poker matters shortly after April 15, he said, and couldn\’t help but see the similarities between online poker and other issues he\’s fought for over his political career — from ski-helmet laws to marijuana reform. He was at the PPA booth shortly before the start of the main event, and I got to chat with the two-term former governor of New Mexico about the Republican shift in support of online poker, where online poker fits in the scheme of national issues (right up at the very top, he says, as an example of American freedoms under attack), and how those who believe in smaller government can support the concept of more regulation. Apparently you can regulate online gambling without regulating the whole internet. And regulations work best, he explains, when a guy like him gets to be \”dictator\”. (If Obama thought he had \”socialist\” problems … yeow.)
Pokerati Raw: Courting the Poker Vote
Gary Johnson at the WSOP
http://old.pokerati.com/podcast/pokerati-raw/gary-johnson-wsop.mp3
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Johnson calls on poker players to realize that their passions go beyond just poker and are more of an American issue — like pot — and the immediate solution is to donate to his campaign.
He\’s pitching himself as \”the people\’s president\” … and thus is letting poker players know that he can be their guy in DC. For what it\’s worth, I didn\’t leave with the feeling that this will be a special day having met the future president … but I did leave with the sense that Johnson would help make the issues of online poker players — the basic ones, the simple right to play for money online — part of the national debate.
Check out his campaign website at GaryJohnson2012.com … and here\’s a special donation page set up just for you.