Major Donor To Gingrich SuperPAC Wants No Part Of Anti-Bain Attacks
One of the biggest donors to the main pro-Gingrich SuperPac Winning Our Future is saying he does not support the attacks on Mitt Romney’s history at Bain:
Las Vegas casino mogul Sheldon Adelson’s $5-million donation to supporters of Newt Gingrich may have helped fund distribution of a brutal anti-Mitt Romney video, but he’s not necessarily endorsing its message.
The 28-minute video produced by a group supporting Gingrich portrays the former Massachusetts governor as a corporate marauder who destroyed small businesses and individuals’ livelihoods in pursuit of profit as head of Bain Capital.
The video has been criticized by some in Republican circles as taking a page from Democrats’ playbook of “attacking capitalism” and playing the rich off of the poor.
But Adelson, a self-made billionaire, hasn’t seen the video and has had no say in the group’s strategy for airing it, according to a source close to the Las Vegas Sands chairman.
“The key to remember here is that he gave a donation to support Newt,” the source said. “What happens from the time when that contribution lands with that PAC to now, he’s not involved with. He’s not been involved in the strategies and the tactics.”
The video is being distributed by Winning Our Future, a so-called super political action committee supporting Gingrich’s campaign. The super PAC is planning to purchase $3.4 million in television time in South Carolina and air portions of the documentary in the run-up to the Jan. 21 GOP primary there.
The source close to Adelson said the $5 million contribution was meant to help a friend who needed it.
The blowback from these attacks is pretty severe, and seems to be helping Romney.
Why don’t we just put up a “For Sale” sign in front of the White House? That at least would be honest.
Is it? The latest polls I’ve seen have him moving down in South Carolina, while Gingrich and others gain ground.
Perhaps it’s helped in terms of solidifying elite support around him and sending the Faux News talking heads into a tizzy, but I wouldn’t be so sure that this line of attack doesn’t have some traction, reminding people of all the reasons why they really, really don’t like Romney.