Adelson covering his bets

February 5, 2012 3:10 pm

When it comes to owning, er, backing a GOP presidential candidate, it looks like casino mogul Sheldon Adelson plans to split his hand.

Adelson and his wife have given $10 million to Newt Gingrich’s fading presidential campaign. But the New York Times reports that Adelson has made clear to Mitt Romney’s camp that he will put some big bucks in his campaign war chest if Gingrich drops out. 

Betting on Romney would appear to be an odd choice for Adelson. After all Romney is a Mormon, and that religion strictly prohibits gambling. But Adelson opposes online gambling, and so does Romney. Gingrich remains the best candidate for gamblers, but that didn’t translate into many votes in Nevada, the gambling mecca. Beyond gambling, Adelson seems more intent on removing Barack Obama from the White House and installing a president who will be a hawk when it comes to supporting Israel.

Casino money and presidential politics

January 9, 2012 7:49 pm

The casino industry is well known for spreading big bucks around Washington and state houses to help influence gambling legislation. Now, one of the biggest casino moguls is trying to influence the outcome of the race for the Republican nomination for president. The move also shows how the Supreme Court ruling on campaign finance has made it easier for rich donors to influence races, as The New York Times reports.

Sheldon Adelson has contributed $5 million to a PAC that is tied to Newt Gingrich. The PAC is plans to air a 28-minute film and TV commercials attacking Mitt Romney for reaping big financial rewards at Bain Capital, which often invested in struggling companies that laid off workers as part of the restructuring.

So far, none of the reporting on Adelson’s role has pointed out that his casinos probably do just as much damage to people’s livlihoods as anything Bain ever did. Read this 2008 profile of Adelson in The New Yorker to better understand how one of the most influential casino owners operates and the political clout he wields.