Inside Asian Gaming

July 2016 inside asian gaming 7 Cover Story What’s happening is that large swaths of the American electorate are in open revolt against a Washington political establishment they perceive as self-serving, irredeemably corrupt and hopelessly out of touch with their needs and values. It’s the howling of a wind that’s sweeping through every corner of the globe, stoked in different ways and in varying degrees by economic stagnation, income inequality, immigration, terrorism, political destabilization, refugee crises and the breakneck pace of technological change. Broadly speaking – a sense of disempowerment centered on a belief that control of one’s life and destiny has been ceded to inscrutable forces rigged to benefit elites. There are certain parallels in the Umbrella Movement in Hong Kong, in Taiwan with the triumph of the pro-independence party in national elections earlier this year, and in the rise of a budding strong man in the Philippines who promises like Donald Trump to heed no one and offend just about everyone. Mr Trump has been particularly adept at playing to the fears of the everymanwith his brash talk and sloganeering about “making America great again” – echoes of which were heard in the UK Independence Party’s successful Brexit campaign and in the strident nationalism that’s on the ascent across Europe. Former Alaska Governor and Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, the darling of the anti-government Tea Party movement of the last decade, trotted it out in her opening for Mr Trump at a recent conservative political rally: “We’re going to take our country back,” she cried, “and either you’re with us or against us!” “WE’RE USED TO THIS” As veteran online gaming consultant and broker Sue Schneider sees it, “All bets are off. This ‘throw the bums out’ change for change’s sake, this is all new. There are no predictions. You just have to sit back and watch and see how it plays out.” Which is pretty much what the gaming industry is doing if presidential campaign contributions are any indication. To date, the industry has spread slightly more than US$500,000 across the entire field of candidates, according to the latest Federal Election Commission figures compiled by the Washington DC-based Center for Responsive Politics – a pittance compared to the tens of millions banks and hedge funds, insurance and pharmaceutical and health care companies funnel to their choices. The split between Republicans and Democrats has slightly favored the former, 55% to 45%. But Democrat Hillary Clinton has been the industry’s top recipient at US$164,337. Surprisingly, Bernie Sanders ranks fourth, only US$200 behind former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, the son of a president, brother of a president and the Republican who was supposed to take his party’s nomination in a cake walk. Actually, the Republican the industry clearly favored was Ohio Governor John Kasich, a reliably conservative career politician who served 18 years in the US House of Representatives and was a commentator for Rupert Murdoch’s Fox News . As for Mr Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee heading into the party’s national convention later this month has received all of US$4,561. Excepting Sheldon Adelson and probably Steve Wynn, “I do not expect most of the rest of the gaming industry to be strongly for Trump – unless it looks like he’s going to win,” says Professor Green. The problem, says Andrew Klebanow – a long-time industry marketeer and founder of gaming consultancy Global Market Advisors – is that, “You just can’t predict what his presidency will look like.” Gaming, like most corporate communities, tends to tilt Republican, but as Professor Green points out, “This is an unusual election. “The Republican Party in the last half-century has had this internal conflict between the evangelical [Christian] side and the libertarian “The Republican Party in the last half-century has had this internal conflict between the evangelical [Christian] side and the libertarian side … and gaming industry leaders historically have wanted the libertarian side to win out.” Source: Federal Election Commission data, compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics Hillary Clinton (D) $164,337 John Kasich (R) $152,150 Jeb Bush (R) $62,705 Bernie Sanders (D) $62,505 Ted Cruz (R) $26,315 Marco Rubio (R) $24,453 Lindsey Graham (R) $8,100 Rand Paul (R) $5,336 Donald Trump (R) $4,561 Ben Carson (R) $4,059 Martin O’Malley (D) $2,700 George Pataki (R) $500 Carly Fiorina (R) $300 Jill Stein (G) $100 GAMBLING INDUSTRY PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS Total as of 21 June: $513,121 (Democrats 44.7% | Repubicans 55.2% )