Columnist Jon Ralston: Gaming’s dirty little secret bared

Friday, March 16, 2001 | 3:45 a.m.

Jon Ralston, who publishes the Ralston Report, writes a column for the Sun on Sundays and Wednesdays. Ralston can be reached at 870-7997 or by e-mail at ralston@vegas.com

SO THE GAMING INDUSTRY is outraged that Public Citizen, a Ralph Nader-inspired do-gooder group, has lambasted the casinos for using campaign contributions to block an NCAA betting ban bill last year.

The report, made public last week, alleges that the gamers used $3.9 million in soft money to both parties to scuttle the measure, focusing on leadership, some of whom flew to Las Vegas to pick up the cash.

Well, I am shocked, shocked to discover that influence-peddling has been going on in Washington and the gamers, who obviously shun such practices at home, would engage in this activity.

The casino men's apoplexy, however, has nothing to do with the report's truth, even though their lamentations are echoing from the American Gaming Association offices in Washington to Strip boardrooms. With a few arguable exceptions -- anecdotal evidence of conversations attributed to congressional leaders is hard to verify -- the report is dead-on. It is a blueprint for how the industry has targeted key House and Senate members during the last few years and why key congressional bosses entombed the issue to help Nevada candidates for federal office.

None of this is news to those here who have watched the issue for the last year. But that doesn't mean that the Public Citizen report isn't problematic for the industry, especially considering the propitious timing of its release during March Madness. In fact, the Public Citizen manifesto brims with ironies and realities that have nothing to do with the obvious attempt by the industry to win friends and influence people in Washington using the only currency that matters.

It provides great ammunition for the betting ban sponsors this time around, especially since campaign finance reform maven John McCain is the ringleader and a media manipulator extraordinaire. What a synergy for him with the two issues.

The irony here is that the gaming industry money is a pittance compared to other industries. In a study completed earlier this year, the Citizens for Responsive Politics actually found $10.4 million in gaming contributions, which included $7.3 million in soft money and also counted Indian casino donations.

Now compare that with what the CRP found for energy-related industries -- $63 million in contributions. Or the combined totals of financial institutions, insurance companies and real estate types -- $293 million.

The gamers, a relatively new kid on the Capitol Hill influence block, are playing in a high-stakes poker game with pennies. Yes, their contributions are increasing much faster and thus getting more notice -- they went from $362,000 in 1990 to that $10.4 million a decade later.

But that is not why the Public Citizen study is so dicey for the industry. The amounts are not as important as who is giving.

Here is the dirty little secret that the AGA and the Nevada Resort Association don't want to acknowledge: Gaming money is different.

In the eyes of many, especially do-gooders, be it Public Citizen or the NCAA, there is something unsavory about money contributed by casinos. Image is everything in the public relations game, and no amount of skill by Frank Fahrenkopf or anyone else can change the perception of gaming. Not everyone thinks the casinos are still run by the mob, populated by suckers getting cheated and teeming with problem gamblers. But some combination of those stereotypes still seeps into the consciousness of many people, including some in the Gang of 535.

And this is not just the religious right, either. Public Citizen provided a microcosm when it provided quotes from conservative Gary Bauer ("the cancer of gambling dollars") to former Sen. Bill Bradley ("college athletics should not be the equivalent of roulette chips").

Despite the obvious lack of logic attached to the idea that banning legal sports wagering will lead to a drying up of illegal bookmaking, the breadth of ideological support and the narrow constituency (Nevada) opposed to the bill make this even more difficult for the industry and the delegation.

The Public Citizen report will become a political bludgeon in short order for proponents of the ban. And the irony is that what it exposes is the only thing that will save the industry from the bill being passed.

The gaming flacks can crow all they want about their efforts to educate congressmen and senators about the bill's lack of common sense and the industry being in a legitimate business. But, with the exception perhaps of Senate Minority Whip Harry Reid's ample political juice, the only way that the measure will be once again entombed is the same reason why it died last year: the industry's campaign contributions.