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Hot Stakes – A Vote for Trump May Be a Vote for Adelson

Larry Houser

by Larry Houser in News

Updated Jan 17, 2018 · 9:39 AM PST

“I’ll take presidential candidates for $100M, Alex.”

Is it possible to buy a president, to flat-out write a check with a lot of zeroes and claim ownership of the leader of the free world?

It’s happened before.

In 1896, corporate America basically ran the country, and the robber barons included John D. Rockefeller (oil), Andrew Carnegie (steel), and J.P. Morgan (finance).  Worried about the possibility of populist William Jennings Bryan becoming president, the three bought-up media coverage, trashed Bryan, and sweated out a tight election before their man McKinley won.

They’d later learn that they overplayed their hand, because they also bought the vice presidency for populist Teddy Roosevelt. When an assassin offed McKinley in 1901, Roosevelt took over and made life a living hell for the corporate plutocrats.

You reap what you sow.

A half-century later, a shady businessman and bootlegger named Joe Kennedy used some of his ill-gotten gains to fund a presidential run for his war hero son John F. Kennedy. Details of how much cash Joe spent in the 1960 election are in dispute, but the margin in several states (particularly Illinois) was razor thin.

To this day, some Republicans feel that JFK couldn’t have won without the support of voters who shared something in common, namely that they happened to be dead. After the election JFK talked about his father’s involvement in the election, and was perhaps only half-joking that his old man asked for the exact number of votes his son would need, because “there was no way he was paying for a landslide.”

All of which brings us to casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, the 14th-richest man in the world. Adelson’s reportedly ready to write a check for $100 million to boost the electoral chances of Donald Trump. Not all the cash would go directly to Trump, of course. Some would fatten the accounts of Super PACs who work on his behalf by financing the drawing and quartering of Hillary Clinton in the media.

Exactly what Adelson would want in return for his warehouse full of hundreds is not clear, but if the past is any indication, we can expect that a Trump presidency would be foursquare in Israel’s corner. A few years back Adelson purchased an Israeli newspaper, and the publication unapologetically supports right wing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Adelson makes no bones about his support for Israel.

Trump seems to check off all the blocks on Adelson’s list, to wit: he’s a Republican; he says he despises the Obama administration’s Iran nuclear deal; and he hates Muslims.

But wait, there’s more.

Throughout Obama’s tenure, Adelson has been hounded by the Securities and Exchange Commission for alleged violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act relating to bribery in transactions in the gambling haven Macau. The sides reached a settlement last month, but Adelson no doubt believes that a Republican administration would be more inclined to turn a blind eye in the future than one led by Clinton.

Then there is the curious involvement of Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the House and erstwhile presidential candidate. Gingrich essentially had a barcode on his forehead four years ago in his aborted White House bid, which was kept alive by a $10 million contribution from a Las Vegas sugar daddy. (Sheldon You-Know-Who.) Interestingly, Gingrich, whose campaign was built on his opposition to all things Obama and support for forming moon colonies, started talking about backing Israel about 20 seconds after Adelson’s check cleared.

Gingrich eventually flamed out, but Adelson’s investment might still bear fruit. As Trump gathers the final handful of delegates he needs to secure the nomination, speculation about his VP choice has begun. Enter one Newton Leroy Gingrich, who can be seen on Fox TV several times a week campaigning for the job.

Now Sheldon Adelson didn’t become a billionaire 20 times over by not getting value for his investments, and he knows that Gingrich would be able to pay back that $10 million (plus interest) in about one afternoon if he was the Vice President under an ill-informed and malleable president like Trump.

Consider also that Trump would turn 71 in his first year in office and you can see why Adelson would want insurance with Gingrich as the No. 2 – especially if Adelson is any student of history and remembers what happened with McKinley.

Trump’s followers seem to have no problem with the candidate’s constant flip-flops, so they likely wouldn’t be concerned about the hypocrisy he will be showing when he writes his name on the back of the Adelson check. Last October, when Adelson was kicking the tires on Marco Rubio, Trump had this to say (via Twitter, of course): “Sheldon Adelson is looking to give big dollars to Rubio because he feels he can mold him into his perfect little puppet. I agree!”

After getting Adelson’s endorsement and promise of a fat envelope, Trump changed his tune in another Twitter post: “An incredible honor to receive the endorsement of a person I have such tremendous respect for. Thank you, Sheldon!” Trump apparently is not all that concerned about his own strings being pulled, especially since he never had any intention of self-funding his campaign anyway.

For his part, Adelson views his new Trump purchase as no different than buying a new car:

“I’m against very wealthy ­people attempting to or influencing elections,” he says. “But as long as it’s doable I’m going to do it. I’m proud of what I do.”

That a boy, Sheldon. Be the change you want to see in the world.

(Photo credit: DonkeyHotey (flickr) [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/legalcode].)

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