Sen. Lindsey O. Graham is a long shot to be president. So the South Carolina Republican, who announced his campaign Monday, needs help from some very powerful people to reach his ultimate goal.
Actually, there’s one person, in particular. Graham is hoping to get a boost (in the form of millions of dollars to his super PAC, preferably) from Jewish mega-donor and Las Vegas casino magnate Sheldon Adelson.
Adelson is a rich man with a near-singular focus on one issue: banning online gambling. It’s a moral hazard to America’s great nation, says Adelson, who has vowed to “spend whatever it takes” to ensure we and our children are safe from the corrupting influences of being able to gamble on our phones (there’s actually lots of protections to make sure gamblers are who they say they are, but that’s beside the point).
Left unsaid is the Las Vegas Sands CEO’s fear that expanding the market to the Web for poker and slot machines will eat into his profits.
Because politics is increasingly dependent on outside money, Adelson has a real chance to win this fight. And one of his key allies in the Senate is Graham.
