I see only two possible solutions, and both are predicated on people getting politically active in varying degress.
1) Depending on each state’s rules, something like – getting enough signatures on a petition to place say ‘online gambling is legal’ on the election ballot for voters to decide is one.
The politicians, regardless of party, are beholden to money/lobbyists when it comes down to it. So if the land based gambling interests $upport certain candidates it will not matter if a small amount of their constituents voice their opinions. The politicians know that money contributed to their re-election campaign will far outweigh concern about a minority of voters (regular gamblers/advertisers) who, if the law to make their hobby/livelyhood has been in effect for any length of time, will have already moved on.
You either fight it by outspending them (lobbying) or get the voters to overrule them when they step out of bounds. It’s been done before in controversial issues like assisted suicide and now abortion in South Dakota.
I really do not think it is a good thing that citizens have to resort to this type of thing. Think about it on the federal level – do you really want to have to keep amending the consititution every time special interests get out of countrol and pass bad laws? Unfortunately, with our courts being taken over by politicians instead of real judges this is the result as we have lost our only check on these interests.
I do think the referendum type of angle will not go anywhere until you can get a rabid (albeit small) base behind it. That means poker players and I believe it would be hard to get some of them to be the initiators behind this until at least one is actually prosecuted for playing poker online. The powers that be are not dumb though and I don’t think they have any intention of doing this. The Washington law is really just a bone they threw to their money friends. Then, of course, you have the handful of religous fanatics that care about the issue on moral grounds. They are the ones that will want actual prosecution.
2) The lobbying angle really should be done by the programs themselves, targeting US based candidates with their money. But I don’t know if they really care about this issue in terms of US affiliates. There will be plenty of non US affiliates that will target and get US customers to take their place. Just like anything else, I think the US affiliates will have to do this for themselves. It is no different than labor, education, or other issuess type of groups. Create a PAC, get/keep it financed, and try and get friendly politicians elected.