As regular readers of this site most likely remember, it was not that long ago when I wrote a post that discussed New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson and the positive impact that he could have on online poker and other gambling issues in the United States if he was selected as the Commerce Secretary in the Obama cabinet.  Although myself and many others were hopeful about the prospect of Bill Richardson being selected for this position, an issue arose that prevented that from happening.

The reason that Bill Richardson is not the Commerce Secretary in the Obama Cabinet is because he was forced to withdraw himself from consideration.  Although Richardson was obviously interested in the position, the reason he was forced to withdraw himself is because he is currently being investigated by a federal grand jury about the possibility that he was involved in a pay to play scandal.  In case you are not aware of what the phrase pay to play means, it is a "situation in which money is exchanged for services or the privilege to engage (play) in certain activities."  In Richardson's case, the alleged pay to play scandal involved him because it is alleged that he awarded a lucrative state contract to a company that gave campaign contributions to his political action committee.

Because Richardson made the decision to withdraw himself from consideration on January 4th of this year, it was necessary to find a new candidate to fill the position.  The person who was selected to take over the position of Commerce Secretary was New Hampshire Republican Senator Judd Gregg.

The reason that most United States online poker and gambling advocates view this as a negative is because of his party-line support for the UIGEA.  Another reason for most online gambling advocates lack of support for Gregg as Commerce Secretary has to do with his former ties to lobbyist Jack Abramoff.  Before he was sent to federal prison at the beginning of 2006, Abramoff was a lobbyist for Indian and casino gambling.  Because of these ties, it is perceived that there is a strong chance that Gregg may favor these forms of gambling, which could cause him to do even more damage to the online gambling industry.

As with most issues in the world of politics and online gambling, only time will tell what type of impact Gregg has on online gambling, but it's unfortunate that at the current time, things are not looking very favorable.