Things to do now that UConn blew my bracket

Posted at 5:36 PM on April 4, 2006 by Bob Collins (2 Comments)

One of my regular stops on Planet Politics, Kennedy v. the Machine, (I admit, I like Gary, he seems like a good egg) started a contest today to raise money for the Kennedy campaign. Under it, anyone who goes to the Kennedy site (that's the Kennedy OFFICIAL site and contributes money, goes into a pool to win movie tickets. (I can't remember what). The folks at the law firm where Kennedy v. the Machine is produced would pick the winners.

The postings are all gone off the site now, 'cuz it turned out the offer would be illegal, I guess.

I am told by some folks that know better than me that our proposed fundraising contest for movie tickets as a reward for contributing to the Kennedy campaign may violate state law.

Last time I checked, that wasn’t a good thing.

The reader should note that I am soley responsible for dreaming up this knucklheaded idea — unless it turns out to be legal in which case it was Andy and Doug’s idea.

Regretfully, we have pulled the contest until such time as we get clarification.

It falls under the the definition of "lottery." Specifically: prize, chance, consideration. Remove any one of those , and it's not a lottery anymore. So if they open the contest up to people who don't donate money (thus the popularity of the phrase "no purchase necessary.") it becomes legal again.

Heck of a creative idea, though.

How'd the NCAA brackets work out?

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Comments (2)

Thanks for the link, Bob. I took it down for a reason -- I didn't want to call attention to the fact that for 90 minutes I was soliciting the breaking of campaign finance laws! Sheesh.

Also, I couldn't tell if you were serious or not about lawyers being involved. That was tongue-in-cheek. I was talking about the 4 of us contributors -- none of whom is a lawyer.

(Bob notes: See? You did turn out to make something of yourself)

Posted by Gary M. Miller | April 4, 2006 6:54 PM

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(Bob notes: See? You did turn out to make something of yourself)

Not so much.

Posted by Gary M. Miller | April 5, 2006 6:48 AM

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