Money Never Sleeps?

April 10, 2016

Comments

It looks like some of the big GOP bucks may be taking a bit of a snooze, via Politico: Sheldon Adelson and top GOP donors retreat to the sidelines

While some in the room spoke in favor of Cruz, others expressed reservations about his prospects in the general election. Trump, meanwhile, had little support: Not one person volunteered to raise money for him if he were the nominee.

[…]

Easily the biggest holdout, though, is Adelson. Despite spending more than $100 million on the 2012 campaign – some of it on former House Speaker Newt Gingrich’s unsuccessful primary effort that year – the 82-year-old mogul has yet to pick a favorite 2016 candidate. His advisers say that he will not endorse anyone until the Republican nomination is decided, at the earliest.

Granted, once the race coalesces into GOP v. Hillary, some of these folks may open up their wallets. However, if they think they are looking at throwing good money at a losing proposition they are more likely to not. This is just an early indicator of a potential lack of enthusiasm from Republicans come November. This is significant because if that lack of enthusiasm drives down turnout it will have important down ticket effects.

2 responses to “Money Never Sleeps?”

James Pearce

April 10, 2016 at 11:49 am

From your link:

Over the course of the weekend, some of the party’s disappointed and most sought-after contributors said they may be done with the 2016 race. Mel Sembler, a Florida real estate executive and former U.S. ambassador, said that after helping to bankroll Jeb Bush’s campaign, he had turned his attention to defeating a local medical marijuana initiative.

“That’s my focus for the rest of this year,” he said.

You ever get the impression these money guys would be more influential if they spent more time listening to people and less time spending their fortunes on crap no one wants?
Stormy Dragon

April 10, 2016 at 12:36 pm

@James Pearce:

It should be noted that one of Sembler’s sources of income is getting state governments to pay them to torture children for using drugs, so defeating the medical marijuana law is just protecting their cash flow.