On the smoking ban, Whelan has flipped and flopped and flipped and flopped on the issue.  Here's the meandering trail of Whelan's various positions on the smoking ban...

• In January of 2006, Whelan said of extending the smoking ban, “It’s only fair to apply the ban across the board.”

• In February of 2006, Whelan boasted that a complete ban for casinos would be approved by the Legislature by the end of that year.

• Then in June of 2006, Whelan back peddled from his original bill, by saying he intended to introduce another bill which would continue to allow smoking on the casino floor. “We are trying to come up with a number [the amount of casino floor space set aside for smokers] that goes beyond sticking the smokers in an enclosed small room and gives the casinos enough space to play with,” Whelan said.

• But in July of 2006, after a Surgeon General report was released discussing the harmful effects of second hand smoke, Whelan resorted once again to a complete ban and said that “separate smoking areas are not effective”.

• Whelan must have forgotten about the Surgeon General’s report because earlier this year Whelan expressed support for the Atlantic City Council plan to allow smoking on some areas of the casino floor and wanted to give the plan “an opportunity to work.”