Atlantic City Weekly

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They’re thinking outside the box and inside the Beltway at the Atlantic City Hilton this summer.

In between standard casino fare like Meat Loaf, Cheech and Chong and Eddie Money, the city’s smallest casino has scheduled some of the biggest heavyweights on the American political landscape to headline a “Summer Speakers Series,” led by former President Bill Clinton and former Vice President Dick Cheney.

It will be the first time a former or sitting American president will visit an Atlantic City casino since the gaming era began 32 years ago. “We’re looking at this as something that’s truly adult entertainment,” Hilton chief operating officer Michael Frawley says. “There is nothing wrong with political awareness. This is ‘information entertainment.’”

Frawley was quick to note that the casino isn’t taking political sides with this unique series of special events, nor is it trying to push some hidden political agenda. The Hilton, one of several Atlantic City casinos pushed to the financial brink by the recession and increased gaming competition, is simply trying to raise the bar on what is considered “casino entertainment” in the 21st century.

The series begins June 24, when Fox News conservative commentators Bill O’Reilly and Glenn Beck will share the stage. Clinton will become the first American president — former or sitting — to visit an Atlantic City casino when he takes the stage of the 1,200-seat Hilton Theater July 23. Conservative commentator Ann Coulter will square off against former Clinton adviser and liberal commentator James Carville on Aug. 21, while Cheney will wrap up the program on Sept. 17.

The Hilton isn’t sure of the topics each event will embrace, although Frawley indicated current events would almost certainly be among the subjects discussed and debated. Nor does he expect the speakers to attack the opposing party on stage.

“I don’t think they’ll go there because it really isn’t necessary,” he says.

For Tina Belluscio, regional director of entertainment for the Hilton, putting this series together has been the culmination of a years-long effort.

“I’ve been trying to do something like this for years, but [the politicians] kept saying ‘no’ without giving a reason,” she says. “My opinion is that they felt that gambling and politics just didn’t blend.”

Booking a former American president and vice president wasn’t as simple a process for Belluscio as scheduling Joan Rivers or Weird Al Yankovic.

“You don’t just call an agent asking for a [tour] routing sheet,” she explains. “It’s a lot more complicated than that. There are a lot of layers to deal with.”

One of which is called the United States Secret Service. Neither Belluscio nor Frawley would get into the specifics of dealing with the law enforcement agency that protects the former and current first- and second-families.

“They are a very thorough organization,” Frawley says simply. “They have everything planned.”

Nor would they say what kind of money the Hilton is spending on the series. However, published reports say Clinton earns between $175,000 and $200,000 per speaking engagement — sometimes more — so this is obviously an expensive experiment.

Although each of the speakers the Hilton has lined up has been a polarizing figure, Frawley doesn’t believe the casino is gambling with this series.

“I don’t see any risk in it at all,” the casino chief says. “For a program like this, this is the right time and the right place. The quality of our speakers is going to be extremely difficult to surpass.”

Frawley adds, “No one has been negative about this, regardless of their political views. We need to come up with new forms of adult entertainment in Atlantic City, and this is certainly adult entertainment.”

Atlantic City’s last presidential visit was in 1978, when Jimmy Carter delivered a keynote address at Boardwalk Hall.

Two years earlier, President Gerald Ford made a campaign stop on the Boardwalk to deliver a speech at the annual New Jersey Education Association convention.