Jollies at Las Vegas Sands for Republican presidential candidates

Further evidence of the major influence that seriously wealthy individual Americans can have on the US political scene emerged this week with reports that Republican Party mega-donor and land casino magnate Sheldon Adelson is to vet four of 2016’s US presidential hopefuls during a Republican Jewish Coalition leadership jolly at his luxury Venetian Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

Reports indicate that Adelson and his cohorts will spend four days of leisure activity and hard political discussions with Republican Party governors and presidential candidates John Kasich (Ohio); Scott Walker (Wisconsin); Jeb Bush (Florida) and Chris Christie (New Jersey).

Surprisingly, the conservative Republican governor from Texas, Rick Perry, does not appear to be among those invited despite his espousal of Adelson’s anti-online gambling cause.

The goal of the exercise appears to be for Adelson to decide who will get his reported $100 million backing in the race for the presidency; last time around that did not work out well for Adelson despite a similar investment in a Republican candidate.

One of Adelson’s top lieutenants, Andy Abboud, hinted last week that getting his boss’s cash will not be an easy process: “The bar for support [this presidential election] is going to be much higher. There’s going to be a lot more scrutiny,” he said.

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