Presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, speaks at the Republican Jewish Coalition spring leadership meeting Saturday, April 24
Inside a conference room Friday night at the Venetian on the Las Vegas Strip, top boosters for Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker mingled with some of his biggest potential donors, including New York property attorney Phil Rosen and Todd Ricketts, part-owner of the Chicago Cubs.
About the same time, Jeb “Jebby” Bush Jr., son of another man considering a 2016 presidential bid, socialized with young fundraisers like Jay Zeidman, son of prominent Houston fundraiser Fred Zeidman, at the casino’s Public House bar and restaurant.
And throughout the weekend, behind closed doors in his office, billionaire casino owner Sheldon Adelson, held private meetings with Texas Senator Ted Cruz, former Texas Governor Rick Perry, South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, and a stream of other Republican politicians.
None of these gatherings was on the official agenda for the Republican Jewish Coalition’s leadership conference, a three-day affair that included a poker tournament, golf, speeches, and sessions on topics such as women and youth involvement in elections. The conference began Thursday night with a 75-person dinner on the tennis court of Adelson’s new home, carpeted for the occasion. Mitt Romney and Republican Party Chairman Reince Priebus spoke at that. And it ended Saturday night with a dinnertime speech by former President George W. Bush. Almost everything was closed to the press, except four speeches Saturday, by Cruz, Perry, Indiana Governor Mike Pence and Ohio Senator Rob Portman.
But the sidebars tell the real story of why the RJC is a force in Republican politics: Its members include some of the party’s biggest donors.
That means, at least for one weekend a year, Nevada ranks right up there with first-caucus Iowa in political importance. For Cruz and Perry, this was literally true. The two spoke at the RJC conference Saturday morning and hopped on planes for the 1,400-mile trek to Waukee, Iowa, to speak later in the day at an event organized by that state’s Faith and Freedom Coalition.
Many RJC donors—among them Paul Singer, Phil Rosen, Ken Abramowitz, and, of course, Adelson—have not made up their minds about which candidate to support in the GOP primary. That’s a big difference from this point in the last presidential campaign cycle. In 2011, Adelson, thanks to a long friendship, was already backing former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. Many of the other coalition members had gravitated to eventual nominee Romney.
The uncertainty gave the weekend the feel of a candidate audition.
“They all came in prepared on the issues,” Andy Abboud, Adelson’s top political adviser, said of the presidential hopefuls visiting with his boss this weekend. “It’s still wide open as far as who he’ll support. There are no puffs of smoke coming from the Venetian just yet.” Julie Bykowicz, Las Vegas, Bloomberg
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