Bad PR for gaming

Mike Ensign‘s 96 dimes of hush money to his son’s mistress’ pimp daddy (aka Doug Hampton) and “Casino Jack” Abramoff make cameo appearances in this attack ad (found via @RalstonFlash). Throw in the heavy-handed meddling in casino affairs of Gov. Chet Culver (D-IA) and Gov. David Paterson (D-N.Y.), and it’s been a good week for sleaze and a bad one for the industry’s image. Heck, hired gun Navegante Group is actually having to plead for public exoneration from its guilt-by-association in the ultra-scummy Aqueduct Racetrack imbroglio. (Note also how Howard Stutz obliquely disses Navegante’s qualifications by enumerating its management contracts as “the Sahara, three casinos in Elko and Reno‘s Grand Sierra.” For Nevadans, at least, that’s coded language for “podunk.”)