- A public opinion survey by Reason-Rupe has produced diametrically opposite results to the four state survey sponsored by Sheldon Adelson two months ago.
- Reason-Rupe found 65% in favor of legalizing online poker, while Adelson’s survey found 57% opposed.
- The survey methodologies were different, and opponents of each will argue that surveyors got the results they wanted.
- The significance of the latest survey is that the coalition of supporters of online poker is widening.
A public opinion survey by Reason-Rupe has produced diametrically opposite results to the four state survey sponsored by Sheldon Adelson two months ago.
In a 50 state survey of over 1,000 people, the Reason-Rupe survey asked: “Do you think the government should prohibit people from [Gambling in online poker games], or should the government allow people to do this?”
65% of respondents voiced the opinion that the government should allow online gambling, while 32% thought the activity should be prohibited. 3% didn’t know or refused to answer the question.
The Adelson survey asked a “thematic” question, one which forced respondents to express a preference between two statements. As a result the survey concluded that there was: “universal opposition to any proposal that would legalize internet gambling or internet poker….over 60% of voters in these four states are opposed to any proposal to legalize internet gambling or internet poker….”
Conversely, Reason-Rupe concluded that: “Majorities of all partisans favor allowing Americans to play online poker, but independents who lean Republican were even more likely to favor (75 percent) allowing people to play online poker and Democrats were the least likely to favor (58 percent).”
The Reason-Rupe survey was funded by the Arthur N. Rupe Foundation, which, “aims to improve education at all levels, support authentic debate where all aspects of issues are revealed in a balanced exploration of the facts, and support research and scholarly studies that can achieve broad public dissemination.”
Arthur Rupe was a music producer who managed Little Richard in the 1950s and subsequently made a fortune by investing in the oil and gas industry. The survey was managed by Emily Ekins, who is a Research Fellow at the Cato Institute which is “dedicated to the principles of individual liberty, limited government, free markets and peace.”
No doubt opponents of online gambling will argue that the survey got the result it wanted, just as supporters argue that Adelson got the result he wanted. The real point isn’t the survey result, it is that the PR war over online gambling is bringing in a broader coalition of supporters—with the money to conduct surveys like this one that have the power to influence public opinion.
