Should Maryland's conservatives support slots?
It depends ... how much are you willing to pony up for support?
The company Labtoplobbyist.com is, as the banner above suggests, a conservative online lobbying firm. Its website is currently running campaigns against gay marriage, the morning after pill, Tim Robbins, profanity in the media, and the "Abortion Judges."
And as a good, wholesome conservative firm, it is also running a campaign against the legalization of slots in Marlyand (something of a recent obsession of mine):
StopSlotsMaryland is a campaign, supported by businesses, associations, faith groups, civic groups, and advocates who are banding together to eliminate proposals to legalize video lottery terminals (slot machines) for Maryland and return them here by the tens of thousands.
One might wonder, however, whether the company thought through SSM's potential political problems, since the ones pushing for slots are Republican Governor Bob Ehrlich and his fellow Republican state senators.
One might especially wonder about this, given that the president and founder of Labtoplobbyist.com, Carter Clews, is a lifelong Republican and friend of Governor Ehrlich and his finance chairman, Richard Hug (more on him later).
What is a conservative lobbyist with friends in high places to do?
Sell out his conservative anti-slot clients for the right bid, of course:
State Republican Party officials said they left a mid-January meeting with the company Labtoplobbyist.com with the message that the organization was seeking $100,000 to forgo a deal with slots opponents that could imperil one of Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s top priorities.
[snip]
Kane, the [Republican] party chairman, called the lobbying group "incredibly hypocritical" and said its motives tarnishes the anti-slots effort.
"Weeks ago, they are in our office wanting $100,000 to do a pro-slots program," Kane said, adding that they talked about how pictures on the group's Web site would be altered to change the message from opposition to supporting new revenue for public schools.
"They were going to take the pictures of the prostitutes out and put a picture of schoolchildren in," Kane said.
Hey, wait a minute ... the schoolchildren playing slots thing was my idea!
11:27:36 PM 
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