June 7, 2012

Sheldon Adelson Opens Up His Wallet, Vol. MCXVI

<a href="http://www.shutterstock.com/cat.mhtml?lang=en&search_source=search_form&version=llv1&anyorall=all&safesearch=1&searchterm=money&search_group=#id=65802829&src=32dea5570a2d2ff81afcca1e74c3bcff-1-17">Aptyp_koK </a>/Shutterstock

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When Newt Gingrich finally ended his presidential campaign in May, he went out of his way to thank the man who did more than anyone to try to get him to the White House—Las Vegas casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, the chief patron of the pro-Newt super-PAC Winning Our Future. Adelson, along with his wife, Miriam, gave a combined $21 million to Winning Our Future during the GOP primary, much of which went to television spots attacking Mitt Romney’s record at Bain Capital.

Now that the primary is over, it’s Romney who’s trying to smooth things over with the mega-donor. In May, while the political world fixated on the GOP nominee’s summit with Donald Trump in Las Vegas, Romney quietly held a 45-minute meeting with Adelson. Adelson can’t give Romney’s campaign more than $2,400, so the real purpose was to get him to open up his wallet to a super-PAC, where he could give as much as he wanted.

And now it appears to be paying off. Politico‘s Ken Vogel reports that Adelson has just cut his first $1 million check to the pro-Romney super-PAC  Restore our Future. And there signs he’s planning on giving more. To wit: Vogel notes that Adelson is in talks with Rudy Giuliani (!!) about bankrolling a new super-PAC devoted to electing GOP senate candidates.

A million is pocket change by Adelson’s standards. But then again, it’s only June.

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