Obama Camp Attacks McCain’s Gambling

CHICAGO, Ill. – Speaking to reporters on the campaign plane Monday morning, an aide to Sen. Barack Obama placed a bet on Sen. John McCain’s next weak spot: gambling.

Obama will likely raise the issue while campaigning in Colorado today, predicted the aide, in response to a New York Times article detailing McCain’s ties to lobbyists in the gaming industry.

The attack looks like a priority for Democrats this week. The DNC is launching a new web ad, “Betting on McCain,” contending that the lobbyist revelations show that McCain is driven by “special interest politics.” It will run on news, political and religious websites. Democrats say the ad demonstrates:

John McCain’s history of stacking the deck in favor of his favorite gambling industry lobbyists. The video comes on the heels of a new report outlining McCain’s pattern of using his position as the chairman of a key Senate committee to tip the scales in favor of casino lobbyists with connections to his family and campaigns — even if it meant reversing long held positions.

After campaigning in Colorado today, Obama makes his own trip to gambling country — with stops in the swing state of Nevada tomorrow. He often recounts how he outlined his reform plan for the auto industry in Detroit — we’ll see if he brings that same confrontational approach to criticizing gambling.