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This is the speech that I made at the field in support of the casino. Five of us from each side (pro and con) were allowed two minutes each to present arguments.

This is as I wrote it the night before; it may not match word for word with what I actually said.

Speech in support of Article 2, Tony Lawrence, July 28th, 2007 High School Field, Middleboro MA

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This casino.. this entertainment venue.. these restaurants, these shopping boutiques, this museum, this conference center.. this 5 star resort would be a wonderful thing all by itself.

But this resort comes with an eleven million dollar bonus..

Those people over there will tell you it isn't eleven million. OK: eight million? Is that all right?

Do you remember that South Point shopping center we wanted to build out on Rte 44? I'm told that might have been worth two million in taxes.

We would need four of those out there to match this.

Four giant shopping malls, maybe five, each bigger than the Galleria, strung out there on Rte 44.

Imagine the traffic, the light pollution, the miles of hot parking lots, the crime..

Miles of super malls.. or one beautiful resort hidden away in the woods of Precinct Street.

One almost invisible resort.. or four - maybe five! -very visible shopping malls.

This is a generous deal.

Like a Thanksgiving turkey, this deal is stuffed with extra money.

Vote Yes for Middleboro's future.

And please, pass the stuffing.

---

The picture was snapped by my wife's cell phone and shows me grinning like mad with Tribal Chief Glenn Marshall after our 2,387 to 1,335 victory.. tired, hungry, sweaty and VICTORIOUS!

By the way, Glenn doesn't know me at all, and was in an obvious rush to leave (busy man!) but when my wife asked if he'd take a moment to let her get a picture of me with him, he graciously stopped and patiently waited for her to get the shot. He's in a hurry, and two anonymous people in orange shirts ask for a photo op, and he happily stops and obliges us. Glenn is a genuinely nice human being.

Or is he? Turns out Glenn may have a few problems we didn't know about - convicted of rape and felony charges. Uggh.. how on earth could he have thought this wouldn't come out??

The victory is larger than the vote indicates. I doubt many anti-casino voters didn't show up: they knew they needed every single vote. However, many on the "pro" side were not so committed. They felt other folks would show up in enough numbers to carry the day, and they were right, we did.

So less than 10% of Middleboro's registered voters were opposed to the deal. Yet as a coterie of them were leaving, one was heard to remark "How can they force a casino on a town that doesn't want it?"

Huh? Less than 10% of registered voters don't want it. The rest of us do.

Our fight isn't over. At the very least, the anti folks will be trying to block Class III gambling, and if they can raise the money (doubtful without outside help), they could try to make a challenge at the Federal level. I wouldn't be surprised if they try to challenge this vote too; I've already seen news reports that seem slanted in that direction.

But for the moment, we won, and for at least a few days we can stop being hyper vigilant and return to something more like normal life.

Hearty thanks to everyone, and special thanks to the IBEW Union.

Thank you to Oak Point for bussing so many of us, for coffee and donuts, and for letting us pass out bag chairs and shirts and caps. The crowd was a sea of orange "Vote Yes" shirts, many of them worn by Oak Point people.

Thanks (in no order whatsoever) Diane, Victoria, Adam and Wayne, the other Wayne, Billy, Pattie, Hal, Joe, Joe (Oak Point), Vic, Mike, Chief Russell, Ellie, Dominic, Laurie, Cheryl, Tom, Harry, Brenda, Helen (it's YOUR fault Linda and I got involved!), Judy, Peg, Roger. Did I miss anyone? Probably - tell me and I'll add you and especially tell me if you don't mind my using your last name too.

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