With each passing day, more politicians start to weigh in on the online poker debate. With each passing moment, jockeying for political position continues.

The biggest highlight of the recent past in the world of US online poker politics would have to be the appearance by the Poker Players Alliance at the Conservative Political Action Conference that recently took place in Hawaii. Most experts weren’t expecting much considering the intense opposition of the religious right to the legalization of online poker, but many of those same experts were pleasantly surprised by the amount of support the idea received.

In particular, economic conservatives with no allegiance to the religious right were easily swayed by the arguments of the economic benefits that could come from legalization, regulation and taxation of online poker within the United States. The presence of Greg Raymer, the 2004 World Series of Poker Main Event champion, may have also been a factor in the positive reception of the PPA.

At the same time that this was going on, Richard Branson of Virgin Corporation announced his intention to attempt to get Virgin Poker into the American market legally. Considering Virgin is already famous for being the ground-breaking airline that was the first flyer in the lower 48 states that was more than a quarter owned by foreign interests, it is quite possible that this could be done sooner rather than later.

Simultaneously, the state government of Iowa is looking to legalize online poker and casino gaming within the geographical extent of the state. The law, if passed, would only apply to operations based within the borders of Iowa and would therefore allow the state to create online poker sites to compete with those currently not based within the United States.

Ending off the jostling for position updates, it appears as though the federal senate is once again looking at a roundabout way to legalize online poker in the United States. The bill is actually about fairness in tax law but also contains language that would make online poker legal in the USA once again if it manages to pass.