Casino magnate Sheldon Adelson has learned from his mistakes — mainly $92 million worth of them in the 2012 elections where he mostly backed losers. But now, Adelson is focused on emerging a winner, or at least be associated with one.
After pouring a large chunk of money into long-shot candidate Newt Gingrich, Adelson is going to back a more mainstream Republican who has a clear shot of getting into the White House, The Washington Post reports.
But who’s it going to be? Whoever they believe has broad appeal in a national election.
He doesn’t want a crazy extremist to be the nominee, said Victor Chaltiel, a GOP donor and an Adelson friend. He wants someone who has the chance to win the election, who is reasonable in his positions, who has convictions but is not totally crazy.
And he’ll start sizing up their sanity starting Thursday at the Venetian, where the spring meeting of the Republican Jewish Coalition will be held, which includes a VIP dinner featuring Jeb Bush. Adelson will holding one-on-one chats with prospective candidates.
And so far, it appears Bush could be the front-runner to get Adelson’s support — and money.
“Jeb Bush, because he’s bilingual, because of his wife, he has a better chance to reach out and get more access to the minorities,” Chaltiel said.
Via Washington Post
