AP – Three Republican governors who weren’t invited to GOP super donor Sheldon Adelson’s political gathering in Las Vegas this week are nonetheless trumpeting their agreement with him against Internet gambling.
Govs. Rick Perry of Texas and Nikki Haley of South Carolina have submitted letters in recent days to congressional leaders stating that gambling in the virtual world compromises the ability of states to control gambling within their borders. Weeks earlier, Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana wrote that he would do everything he could to stop Internet gambling from spreading in his state.
Each of the governors’ missives is highlighted on the website for the Coalition to Stop Internet Gambling, an advocacy group that Adelson, an 80-year-old casino magnate, helped bankroll.
The trio has something else in common: All are possible candidates in the 2016 presidential election. And as it happens, Adelson is casting for a presidential candidate on whom to shower his millions of dollars in campaign cash. In 2012, Adelson almost single-handedly bankrolled the group behind former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.
Two years before the next presidential election, he invited other prospective 2016 candidates to his Venetian resort and casino for an event hosted by the Republican Jewish Coalition. The guests included former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and Ohio Gov. John Kasich.
“I’m going to see him tonight for sure,” Bush said of Adelson as he hurried from an engagement at a Las Vegas school on Thursday. He was scheduled to speak at an evening event for GOP donors, none more prolific than Adelson.
The debate over online gambling has divided the political class and Las Vegas’ casino industry. While Adelson is a staunch opponent, other casino leaders support what they view as an inevitable shift that could bring billions of dollars in new profits.
The American Gaming Association, the nation’s largest gambling trade group, recently hired President Barack Obama’s campaign manager, Jim Messina, to help build support for online gambling.
