With the Presidential election finally upon us, here is a look at how the candidates stack up on the online poker issue.

Republican nominee Mitt Romney (pictured) expressed his support for banning online poker during the Nevada primary. His position was reinforced by the Republican Party platform adopted at the convention in August, which says in part, “We support the prohibition of gambling over the internet and call for reversal of the Justice Department’s decision distorting the formerly accepted meaning of the Wire Act that could open the door to internet betting.”

PresidentBarack Obama has been largely silent on the issue of licensing online poker. In response to a question on online poker on a White House petition site, Brian Deese, Deputy Director of the National Economic Council, replied in part, “It is left to each state to determine whether it wishes to permit such activity between its residents and an online poker business authorized by that state to accept such wagers, but online gambling that is not authorized by state law may also violate Federal statutes.”

This was followed by the December 2011 Justice Department issuance of its opinion stating that the Wire Act does not apply to poker.

Gary Johnson (pictured), the Libertarian candidate and former two-term Governor of New Mexico, is strongly supportive of poker. Johnson opposes efforts to ban online poker, saying it is an individual freedom and that government should not interfere with how Americans spend their own money. While third-party candidates are always long shots (the deck is stacked against them), Johnson says he hopes to get over 5% of the vote. He says this will be enough to begin the end of the two-party system.

Click here for an interview with Johnson.

The most important thing for all of us to do now is go to the polls on Tuesday and ensure that our lawmakers hear from all of us!

The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not constitute an endorsement by Poker Players Alliance, PokerPAC, or PocketFives. Rich Muny and Mark Runningen contributed to this article.

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