Blog: GOP softens view on gaming at Eastern Cherokee casino


The Harrah's Cherokee Casino Resort in North Carolina. Photo from Facebook

The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians hosted the North Carolina Republican Party at the Harrah's Cherokee Casino Resort over the weekend and it turned out to be an odd affair:
Just before approving the party platform Saturday, Republican delegates voted to soften the language on gambling, meeting a floor above the pit where machines chimed and dice rolled.

The platform statement against it – “we oppose gambling, including the state lottery” – was amended to include a phrase affirming “the rights of the individual” to gamble.

It spurred a brief floor fight as the delegate that proposed the amendment lauded the casino’s economic boost for the area, saying “for us to make a platform that kills jobs is against our Republican way of life.”

A Mecklenburg County delegate rose to oppose the amendment, saying “there are many people down below us right now with their lives being ruined. This is not how we ... grow our economy in North Carolina.”

Get the Story:
Notebook: Fear and loathing in Cherokee (The Charlotte News & Observer 6/8)

Also Today:
NCGOP holds Convention in Cherokee (The Cherokee One Feather 6/9)
Some Republicans sit out, others test their luck in Cherokee (Carolina Public Press 6/9)

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Eastern Cherokees host state Republican convention at casino (6/4)

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