Sheldon Adelson is doubling-down on his fair-haired white boy, Newt Gingrich, with a second $5-million Super PAC gift given through his wife, Miriam. If God forbid, Newtie wins the nomination I’d bet we can expect gifts in the $50-100 million range from Big Shel. This gift, and the NY Times article to which I linked, make clear that Newt is largely a creature of Adelson’s money. Without it, Romney would already be the Republican nominee. With it, he spent millions tearing down Romney and boosting his own presence and visibility:
The Adelsons’ contributions on Mr. Gingrich’s behalf illustrate how rapidly a new era of unlimited political money is reshaping the rules of presidential politics and empowering individual donors to a degree unseen since before the Watergate scandals.
The wealth of a single couple has now leveled the playing field in two critical primary states for Mr. Gingrich, a candidate who ended September more than $1 million in debt, finished out of the running in Iowa and New Hampshire and, unlike Mr. Romney, has yet to attract the broad network of hard-money donors and bundlers that traditionally propel presidential campaigns.
Remember also, that when Gingrich ran for president in the past he was a lightly-regarded, laughingstock also-ran. In these days of Supreme Court permitted “free money,” a back-of-the-packer can bring unlimited cash to bear and break through to the mainstream. This causes a tremendous distortion in the political process.
I have no doubt that Barack Obama will have more than enough cash of his own to offset the Adelson “touch.” But in other circumstances, otherwise freakish candidates like Gingrich could easily win primaries and even the presidency while have no real grassroots base or large donor pool. Is this really what the Founding Fathers had in mind when they conceived the American presidency?
In case there is any dissension in the comment thread ranks related to my reference to Newt as a ‘white boy,’ know that I’m referring ironically to the deep ethnic hatreds roiling in Newt’s brain from Muslims to uppity (“food stamp”) Negroes to radical “alien-Alinsky” Jews. Let’s make clear his clear preference for his white, Christian kind which does make some small allowance for good Not-One-Incher Jews like Reb Adelson.
The Times article notes that John Sununu (of Lebanese Arab descent), issues a direct threat to Adelson, saying that all the Republican financiers backing Romney would take revenge on him the next time he turned to them for backing to build a new casino. That seems a hollow threat since money men are in the business of making money and if Sheldon can make them money he’ll have no problem finding financial backing.
But it is interesting to note the level of dismay Adelson is provoking in the circle of the Republican elite. This is exactly where Adelson likes to be. He’s already upset the Israeli political system by offering Bibi virtual financial carte blanche and hundreds of millions worth of free publicity via his Yisrael HaYom newspaper. First, Adelson ensured a virtual permanent Likudist majority in Israeli politics. Now he seeks to install a permanent ultranationalist pro-Israel U.S. government in the form of Newt Gingrich.
Let’s spin this fantasy out a bit farther. Let’s say Newt gets the nomination along with another, say $100 mil from Adelson to spend against Obama. Do you think the latter will make Bibi pay a price for this? Not on your life. Which is precisely what lies at the heart of the current president’s grave weakness when it comes to Israel. He simply doesn’t have the stomach for hard-nosed politics that other truly great presidents have had and understood. It’s why Obama can never be a great president and may end his second term being a somewhat mediocre one.
Richard, despite having free publicity Likud is only the second largest party in Israel, so there is hope after all (:
Not really. Because Likud governs with parties even farther to it’s right. So there is no hope I’m afraid.
Mitt Romney is a very wealthy man. It seems like there has got to be another way. I agree with you that the idea that people can donate millions of dollars is troubling, but so is the situation where only wealthy people can run in the first place. Do you remember when campaign finance reform was an actual campaign issue? Now it appears to be a sad joke.
“when Gingrich ran for president in the past he was a lightly-regarded, laughingstock”
Well, so was Bibi before the very same Adelson started using his (morally repugnant, ill-gotten) bottomless wealth to underwrite the Israeli Gingrich-like politician.
Be helpful if one or more very important (un-ignorable by NYT) Americans came out and said what needs to be said, namely, that Newt has been resurrected and pushed along toward candidacy by HUGE PRO-SETTLEMENT-ANTI-PEACE MONEY.
As far as I can see, the near-totalitarian “iron curtain” that has fallen over America, over its main-stream media, over its politicians (almost every one of them) — the iron curtain which prevents even the MENTION by NYT that the $10M Adelson money is from the same pocket which supports Israel’s (illegal and anti-peace) settlement project — is anti-American, anti-democratic, bad for the digestion, and likely to bring us (USA) to another of our hopelessly stupid wars?
RS –
“Do you think the latter will make Bibi pay a price for this? Not on your life. Which is precisely what lies at the heart of the current president’s grave weakness when it comes to Israel. He simply doesn’t have the stomach for hard-nosed politics that other truly great presidents have had and understood. It’s why Obama can never be a great president and may end his second term being a somewhat mediocre one.”
I respectfully disagree.
As to Pres. Obama’s bona fides re I/P, the Cairo speech and his (failed) efforts to stop or suspend settlement building to encourage peace talks speak for themselves.
Unfortunately for his good intentions, his re-election prospects came into play and the vile AIPAC and its media minions were able to cause him to back off on any pressure on Israel. RS – did you expect him to “do the right thing” and to die on his sword when it would have probably killed his chance of re-election?
As to “payback” if re-elected, there have been indications from people in his Administration that Netanyahoo can expect much more “stick” than “carrot” after the election when pressure from AIPAC will have become almost irrelevant.
Only time will tell.
Obama’s speech included the required “unshakeable, I said unshakeable commitment to Israel’s security….” and nary a word about Israel’s victims.
His Cairo speech and failed settlement freeze initiative do speak for themselves, but they’re not speaking the same language you do. They speak to Obama’s utter failure to make any progress on any issue related to the Israel-Arab conflict. He is a total washout. And please don’t tell me what Bibi can expect from Obama in the next 4 yrs. “Indications” from unnamed individuals mean absolutely nothing. And pressure from Aipac will always be potent & relevant unless Obama is willing to face down the group, which he isn’t.
RS –
Again I ask – did you expect him to “do the right thing” and to die on his sword when it would have probably killed his chance of re-election?
There is no more time. Adelson wants Gingrich in order to obliterate Iran. That brings Russia and China into play. There is only one guy positioned to have a hope of frustrating this slide toward total war – ron paul.
“He simply doesn’t have the stomach for hard-nosed politics that other truly great presidents have had and understood.”
I think this is probably right. Even FDR who, in the context of the radically unusual context he had to operate, namely the Depression and WWII, was probably the most hard-nosed prez of the 20C had to give a little at times. If it weren’t for the biggest military keynesian project of all time, his New Deal would have faltered fatally after its second year.
Obama is all give and no get; holding the line on cuts to social programs is, given his personality, a triumph. His health bill is a travesty: it will cost more than the non-plan that operates today, as the private insurance corps will raise their premiums substantially every year until they get what they feel is their share of taxpayer gifts.
Gingrich is a loose cannon. He’s dangerous. And with enough money behind him, he could easily defeat the wishy-washy Obama.