Last night, I attended the victory party for Casino Free New Hampshire, for whom I’ve advocated for the last year and a half in the State Legislature. What a great group to work with: Smart, savvy, dedicated, and determined. And bipartisan! Our coalition encompasses the most liberal to the most libertarian.
You hear a lot of things about lobbyists, money and influence. I’m proud to say that at least in this case, hard work by passionate volunteers triumphed over hundreds of thousands dollars spent by the casino industry, keeping a predatory industry out of New Hampshire. I helped to coordinate this effort, but we would not have been successful without our volunteers and their hundreds of phone calls, letters to the editor, Facebook shares, and emails. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.
I’m often asked why I don’t want to see casinos in New Hampshire. For me, I’ve had to travel to Las Vegas many times for business, often staying in casino hotels. Walking through the casinos, you don’t see the well-dressed 20-somethings shown in the television ads. You see women in their 70s trying to get an endorphin fix from slot machines. In the block behind the strip are the pawn shops, payday loan offices and mission churches. Casino gambling is not right for New Hampshire.
That’s my reason, but if you need more, there are plenty. Please visit the Casino Free NH website for our 31 Reasons No and dozens of research links and articles. And join our Facebook page to keep up with the next battle.
brb
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