Casino Mogul Adelson Weighs New Funding to Boost Former Speaker and to Help Romney Keep Santorum at Bay

Wall Street Journal article has now outed Sheldon Adelson as the billionaire behind Freedom's Watch which I found their emails to be disgusting and many times not exactly truthful about candidates in the last election.  Took me forever to get off their email list.  With the fact he can support Gingrich and/or Romney I understand his group better as those two candidates are not on the same page.  They said he was comfortable with Romney when he met him.  Of course he would be as Romney is very comfortable around the very wealthy.  It is us regular people that he does not do well with when he has to actually shake our hands.

The problem in this primary is all the money from these billionaire's funding campaigns that wouldn't still be active and paying to run ads that are not vetted just to make sure their candidate wins.  This group of wealthy people seem to have almost zero integrity and Mr. Adelson is included in that camp.  They are trying to buy this election.  Why?  What makes the billionaires of this Country want to make sure they get their candidate?

New campaign-finance rules that are kicking in for the first time in this election have made it even easier for individuals to donate large sums to help candidates. That has given donors a new, powerful arena to argue for their political preferences. 

So now the money people of America are taking over the primaries.  I have never been a big proponent of campaign finance reform but I am rethinking it now after what we are witnessing in this primary.  What we are seeing with Adelson is beyond belief.  Either Romney or Gingrich are going to be beholding big time to Adelson.  Romney has an even bigger problem as he is already beholding to K Street lobbyists along with the Wall Street financial sector for his campaign contributions.  Obama was bought and paid for by the big donors and now the Republican candidate Romney and the GOP big donors are following suit.  Absolutely disgusting out of both sides.

What has happened to this Country when an elite group of people with little integrity as proven by the attack ads, control the destiny of who is going to be the candidate of the Republican Party.  Are conservatives going to allow this to happen by swallowing these attack ads?  Happen to think that conservatives are a little smarter than that and will not be swayed.  Is Adelson going to help pay for the irregularities in voting as well for Romney or the bullies from his campaign that want to shut others up?

• FEBRUARY 15, 2012

Gingrich's Main Backer Plays Two Angles 

Casino Mogul Adelson Weighs New Funding to Boost Former Speaker and to Help Romney Keep Santorum at Bay 

By ALICIA MUNDY and ALEXANDRA BERZON  

AP

Sheldon Adelson, shown last year, is ready

 to use his cash to push Rick Santorum 

from his position atop the latest national polls.    

Billionaire Sheldon Adelson, by far the biggest financial backer of Newt Gingrich's presidential bid, is preparing to open his wallet again. But this time, the casino magnate appears to have more than one agenda.

In a bit of political chess, Mr. Adelson is ready to not only directly support the former House speaker in the Republican primary, but to use his cash to push Rick Santorum from his position atop the latest national polls, according to people who have discussed the matter with Mr. Adelson. 

If Mr. Gingrich could afford to continue campaigning, one of those people said, he might be able to draw off conservative and evangelical voters from Mr. Santorum, improving the chances of Mitt Romney, who Mr. Adelson believes has a better chance to win November's general election.

"Sheldon says we all have to keep our eyes on the goal here—beating Obama," said a person who talked with Mr. Adelson.

According to the people who have discussed the matter, Mr. Adelson could give an additional $10 million or more to an independent group supporting Mr. Gingrich before Super Tuesday, March 6, a likely pivotal day when 10 states go to the polls. The Adelson family has already given $11 million to support Mr. Gingrich since December. 

Mr. Adelson has repeatedly declined to comment on his donations. He "holds his cards tight to the chest because this has been such a seesaw primary you don't know where it's going to go," said Andy Abboud, vice president for government relations at Las Vegas Sands Corp., Mr. Adelson's company. 

Mr. Adelson also isn't likely to announce his decision, Mr. Abboud said, because the casino executive "does not want his opinions to be part of that process…because it's a distraction."
The Santorum campaign didn't respond to requests for comment. 

Mr. Adelson's money has kept Mr. Gingrich's cash-starved campaign afloat and allowed the candidate to continue his fight as a top alternative to Mr. Romney, a former Massachusetts governor. But after several losses in recent weeks and no fresh funding from Mr. Adelson, Mr. Gingrich has had to spend time seeking cash from donors. 

His spokesman said Tuesday that Mr. Gingrich's fund-raising efforts this week have been "excellent." 

A Republican, Mr. Adelson is one of the 10 wealthiest Americans, according to Forbes magazine, with a net worth of $21 billion. He has long been a proponent of Israel and its current conservative government, a position that Mr. Gingrich shares. Mr. Adelson owns a conservative newspaper in Israel. 

During the 2008 election, Mr. Adelson gave millions to conservative U.S. candidates and causes, much of it through a group he helped establish called Freedom's Watch, according to people affiliated with the effort. He has given more than $100 million to a charity that pays for young Jewish people to visit Israel. 

(snip)

Mr. Adelson doesn't oppose Mr. Santorum, but he doesn't share the former Pennsylvania senator's socially conservative positions, including his strong antiabortion views, associates said. Mr. Santorum was one of only two Republicans who didn't meet with Mr. Adelson in October around the time of a candidates' debate in Las Vegas, according to a person familiar with the matter. 

Excerpt:  Read More at the Wall Street Journal