New Jersey naysayers don't have much to say

Trying to gauge the often-contradictory feelings of the American public regarding sports betting is next to impossible.

A Fairleigh Dickinson University poll http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=10070320) this past spring found that more people (53 percent) oppose than favor sports betting, and two-thirds oppose changing federal law and allowing bets to be placed over the internet.

Yet we are told over and over again that the United States is a center-right country that favors the rights of the individual to do what the hell he or she pleases. So what gives?
     
In researching the Covers.com article regarding the New Jersey-based legal effort to overturn the 1992 law prohibiting sports wagering in all but Nevada and a few other states, I quickly found that those attempting to overturn the statute – a New Jersey state senator and an internet-advocacy group, in particular -- were eager to talk. Calls were quickly returned and time was freely given to discuss the issue.
     
Opponents of sports wagering, however, clammed up tight. Jacqueline Peterson of the Harrah’s public relations department (Harrah’s owns a good part of the Las Vegas Strip as well as AC properties) did not return phone calls. Neither an e-mail nor a phone call to Mark Juliano, president of the New ... [More]