Strategist switches sides on casino issue
Via WCSH (January 16, 2010):
It’s too bad the issue of casinos comes down to the morality of gambling, the potential change in crime rate or the hypothetical benefit to local employment. Why does it have to be more complicated than simply saying people should be free to open a casino and other people should be free to gamble as they see fit?
As the latest effort to put a casino in Western Maine takes shape, an interesting rivalry is materializing. Two former architects of the campaigns that defeated proposals in Sanford and Biddeford have parted ways and will be managing the message for opposing sides.
Dennis Bailey of Savvy Communications will continue fighting gambling in Maine as the spokesperson for Casinos No! But his former business partner, Mark Robinson, is now working for the proponents.
Robinson says he was persuaded that casinos can bring jobs and economic boosts to Maine… without the downsides he so vigorously warned of when he worked with Bailey. For example, a flyer Robinson designed that used a stock photo of a homeless man.
“I think the Hollywood Slots experience has shown people it hasn’t come true,” says Robinson. “There aren’t homeless people lying all over the streets in Bangor.”
Dennis Bailey remains unconvinced. “There is no evidence that Bangor is any better off than communities in Maine without casinos. They promised jobs and economic development, and said crime would go down. but unemployment is up, businesses have closed, crime has increased more than any other city in Maine.”
Mark Robinson says he will be paid $60,000 from now through the November vote.