Sheldon Adelson sat at the end of a sweeping boardroom table in an office in his Las Vegas hotel, the Venetian. Earlier that week, he had described himself as “basically a social liberal” in an interview with the Wall Street Journal. His comments quickly drew criticism from both the left and right; The Huffington Post called him a “low-information billionaire,” and he was blasted by the right-wing anti-immigration activists. But Adelson seemed unfazed.
“I got a call from a friend of mine who went to a Republican thing yesterday,” he told me. “They said, ‘Well Adelson’s got it right. He’s got it right.’ What’s wrong admitting that some of the social issues are those which Republicans should adopt?”
As for the critics, Adelson was dismissive: “What right do they have to criticize me? They don’t know me at all.”
For someone whose name and face were a regular staple of the election coverage, the public does have many misconceptions about Adelson. His liberal social views rarely received media attention during the campaign season, though he’s certainly never hidden them.
“See that paper on the wall?” he asked, gesturing toward a poster with rows of names on it. “That is a list of some of the scientists that we give a lot of money to conduct collaborative medical research, including stem cell research. What’s wrong if I help stem cell research? I’m all in favor. And if somebody wants to have an abortion, let them have an abortion,” he said.
Adelson wouldn’t be the first high-profile Republican to suggest the party should soften (or at least downplay) its position on social issues. But as the seventh richest man in America and the biggest campaign donor in political history, Adelson could have much more influence over the direction of the GOP than any of these other internal critics. According to the Wall Street Journal, he spent over $100 million on the last election, and has no compunction about spending more. “To me, it’s not a lot of money,” he said.
Adelson has not said whether he will use his influence to try to change the GOP internally. But he does believe social issues cost the Republicans the last election.
“If we took a softer stance on those several issues, social issues, that I referred to, then I think that we would have won the most recent election,” he said. “I think people got the impression that Republicans didn’t care about certain groups of people.”
“They talked about Mitt Romney and said that he can’t identify with poor people. I can identify with poor people because I was one of them,” he added.
Adelson also breaks with Republicans on health care and immigration. He said he opposes Obamacare, but he does “believe in a socialized medicine system” like the one in Israel.
On immigration, he supports a path to citizenship with some sort of community service requirement.
“We have to find a way for them to earn citizenship,” he said. “I think they got to pay something for it. Not in money…people have suggested serving in the military, community service.”
If Adelson does decide to take a larger role in influencing GOP policy, the upcoming immigration reform debate could be his first opportunity. As a child of immigrants, the issue appears to hold a lot of personal significance for him.
“I was a poor person. My parents were uneducated. My parents were immigrants,” Adelson said. “All of the things that are under consideration today, I was part of.”
Adelson was born during the Great Depression in Dorchester, Massachusetts. His father had fled from Lithuania in 1912. Adelson recalled his father telling him as a child: “You just remember, Sheldon, the United States of America is the greatest country God ever created. Don’t you ever forget that.”
I asked him what he thought about accusations that he is more loyal to Israel than the U.S., an anti-Semitic smear that proliferated during the election.
“Listen, I live here. I don’t live there,” he said. “My wife is Israeli, my children carry Israeli passports, but I don’t. And what right do critics have to make any comment about who I’m loyal to?”
He continued: “Israel is also one of the greatest nations on Earth…Israel is a melting pot for Jewish people like the United States is a melting pot for people who want to leave other countries. You can’t have another country like that? That’s OK.”
Adelson and his wife are both veterans. She served in the Israeli Defense Force, and he served in the U.S. military during the Korean war. They also contribute to veterans organizations, and six years ago began sponsoring a regular Las Vegas trip for wounded soldiers through the Armed Forces Foundation (my trip to Vegas to cover the event was sponsored by this program).
Adelson said he decided to start the trip after sitting next to a wounded soldier at a veterans event in Washington. Once the gala was over, he said he wanted to find a way to thank the wounded personally.
“Last time we had people coming from the [Brooke Army Medical Center] from San Antonio, that their faces…their bodies were so badly burned it was difficult to look at them, you know? And nobody ever says thank you to them,” he said.
“It tears your heart out. You wonder how people can carry on.”
Adelson has struggled with his own health issues. He suffers from a condition that makes walking and using his hands difficult.
“Look, I have neuropathy. And all four of my limbs are affected by neuropathy,” he said. “On the motor side my thumb and my forefinger can’t operate. I can’t tie my shoe laces.”
“There are a lot of things I can’t do,” he continued. “But I’m thanking God that’s all I got. How can these people get along without fingers, without hands? Without legs? And all because they wanted to volunteer to fight to save our freedoms.”
Adelson is absolutely right. As a woman, I really hope the GOP will heed his wise words. The GOP cannot afford to drive away so many female voters.
I agree, Mandy. And also the youth vote. It's not just female voters who were put off. The GOP risks losing a whole generation.
Adelson a person to admire
I am glad that Sheldon Adelson tried to help Mitt Romney win this crucial election. Obama's victory will most assuredly embolden the Islamic extremists. The world will now be much less safe. Mr. Adelson did what he could to prevent the inevitable tragedy. He deserves our thanks.
Really??? LOL
I think Adelson should BUY Israel, and then his wishes and fantasies could come true!
Sheldon Adelson, Kol Ha Kavod! You are an American patriot and a Jewish hero.
Bravo Alana — you got a really key interview here and you did it well. n nI just don't think he is as socially liberal as you think he is — or that you are both defining the term differently than I do. This is what I think most significant: "“They talked about Mitt Romney and said that he can’t identify with poor people. I can identify with poor people because I was one of them,” he added." n nThis is the Calvin Coolidge wing of the Republican Party, people understand that one can be quite responsible and still not have the money to pay for things because they once didn't. It is the concept of Thomas Jefferson's "yeoman farmer" and the egalitarian values of the Jacksonian Democracy. It is a value system that respects hard work and merit — it places a higher value in the content of ones character than the thickness of ones wallet. n nNotice how he references abortion — social liberalism speaks in terms of "a woman's right to…" where he has a more nonchalant disregard — "well let them have an abortion" — he is not going to expend the effort to stop it, which is something quite different from expending the effort to ensure that she can have one. n nI would use the term Egalitarian rather than Socially Liberal to describe him.
Some of us consider abortion to be an evil comparable to slavery. "Well let them have an abortion." Let's rephrase this sentence to read: Well let them have slaves.
Why is it that the people who drive around with bumper stickers saying "Don't like abortions? Don't have one" never express similar pro-choice attitudes toward owning fireams?
Two other things — first, the Korean War is called the 'forgotten war' for a reason — the war was about as unpopular as Vietnam, it just ended a lot quicker, and a society happy with the WW-II victory sought to ignore the unpleasantness of Korea. Those guys were treated badly. n nSecond, one always could earn citizenship via serving in the military. I know people who did it.
One thing Democrats tend to downplay is that the Republican's big money men (Adelson, Koch Brothers, et al) tend to be on their side when it comes to social issues. Name me ANY big money man who is an evangelical Christian or Roman Catholic opposed to abortion or same-sex pseudomarriage.
Why is it overlooked that Adelson first sponsored the crackpot Newt Gingrich? Sheesh. n nGingrich did more harm to the Republican Party this cycle than anyone could have imagined. He was vitriolic, divisive, and simply offensive to many decent people. n nIn Gingrich, Adelson didn't simply back a horse. He backed a donkey.
And what on earth does that have to do with whether Adelson is a social liberal? Or is this just another way of expressing the popular DNC and NJDC theme of "Adelson is a terrible guy and because he supports terrible people, any bad things we say about him must be true?"
You miss the point, and try to argue one I did not make. n nMr Adelson has terrible political judgment. He first supported the crackpot Newt Gingrich who, true to form, spent all his time throwing bombs at other Republicans. Thank God, he failed. n nThen, Mr Adelson decided to throw his millions at Bishop Romney. Romney made himself an easy target with his foolish comments about "I like to fire people", the 47%, and advising people to "borrow money from your parents" — like he did. n nThe vast majority of Americans do not identify with the "struggles" of a plutocrat like Mitt Romney. That brand is only worsened when he is seen taking multiple millions from the likes of Mr Adelson. n nBishop Romney was so an easy target that even Mr Adelson's millions could not buy the vote, nor remove the bullseye he painted on his own back. n nMr Adelson has terrible political judgment, and I expect the Democrats are grateful.
Re: “What right do they have to criticize me? They don’t know me at all.” n nAdelson's right. The doctrinaire, i.e., fanatical, one-note, conservative voices represent a vision of life that seeks to squeeze all the sweetness and humanity out of life in the United States. The Left has its own share of problems, equally grim and equally unpleasant. But the Right, the "strict conservative" alternative, is not any better. n nAdelson may or may not agree with me, or with anyone else, but so what? He is on balance an interesting, moral, engaged and highly successful man, no matter how "imperfect" or even wrong he may be. As for movement conservatives, who would be downright scary if they ever achieved power over the rest of us, they need to mind their own business. Adelson, like me and everyone I know, doesn't want "conservatives" or anyone else telling him how to live, how to think, and so on. n nThe union thugs in Michigan we're all talking today about are no different from those pounding on Sheldon Adelson right now. But that's the current state of affairs in America. It's a state of affairs that must be shifted, away from the extremes. We are a country that cycles ideas—in order to find pragmatic solutions to problems as they arise. One decade we need to tighten our belts, pull back on government spending, get Americans to focus on self-reliance, etc. But then it shifts—as happened for obvious reasons during the 1930s. We were panicked by the Great Depression, and FDR's New Deal policies gave us the illusion of being taken care of while we pasted the nation back together. That his public spending initiatives prolonged the Depression is probably true. But what was the alternative—to let us "eat cake?" n nNothing is perfect, and that applies to human beings too. And those who claim that "their way" is the only way need to be sidelined by those among us who don't think that way, i.e., who are capable of flexibility and compromise, and who don't see the other guy as an enemy but as someone to engage and find a way to live with in mutual respect whenever possible. n nSadly, our current president is an "angry ideologue" who thinks he's slick. His method is borne of a need he seems to have to prove that he's a "superior man," which is perverse in an American president. Obama divides and conquers,setting us at one another's throats, which is the typical m.o. for his kind of socipathic personality. The good news is that we'll outlast him. The bad news is that what may come in Obama's wake may be reminiscent of what occurred after Radical Reconstruction. n nA backlash to Obama-ism would be unfortunate, because it would reignite the old conflicts between race and class. It would seek revenge on those who foisted the Obama monstrousness on us. And it would be a terrible mistake, just as Jim Crow was. We must avoid taking revenge, for then Obama would have won.
Mr Parrot makes a good point among several: doctrinaire moralizers, posing as conservatives, are destroying the Republican Party. In particular, they are alienating vast numbers of young people. Two issues in particular have been the downfall of these busybodies. n nFirst, DADT. These moralizers yelled and stammered, for years, that repeal of DADT would lead to "the destruction" of the US military. Certain columnists here made the same sad efforts. n nGays are now openly serving in our military (they always served, but they were forced to lie about it) and — guess what? Our military is as capable, as powerful, and as effective as ever. BTW, Israel has now had openly gay people in service for EIGHTEEN YEARS. Who would dare claim that the Israeli armed forces are ineffective? n nSecond, gay marriage. Nine states have now encoded marriage equality. More are en route. SEVENTY-PERCENT of Americans ages 18-29 favor marriage equality. Even the Mormons are beginning to change their position. The nosy moralizers who oppose marriage equality are adding to the decline of the Republican Party. n nThis is America. We believe in liberty and justice FOR ALL. n nOr, as Mr Parrot put it, we believe in "live, and let live". The homophobes have chosen a stupid course, for an un-American set of reasons. Of course they're losing. This is America.
I'm not a fan of the super rich being able to donate so much to politics, to put it mildly. It has to stop. I don't think it's fair for either side, either left or right, either Democrats or Republicans. And I don't like everything about Adelson's views. Having said that, the more I hear from Adelson–rather than ABOUT him from partisans who clearly want to trash him–the more I find myself kind of liking the guy. I don't agree with his views on everything, but he seems forthright and thoughtful and kind. I'd have a beer with him, though I'd insist he pick up the bill.
I think Mr. Adelson is a magnificent human being and a preeminent Jew following Jewish traditional values. He should be prized by everybody who loves The Jewish People.
Israel "a melting pot?" This is maybe one of the most classic pieces of disinformation I've ever read. Absolutely hilarious. Speaking of illegal immigrants, Netanyahu has said, "It is important that everyone understand that Israel is no longer a destination for infiltrators." Mr. Adelson's publication, Israel Hayom, publishes articles with titles like "Touting drop in illegal infiltrators, prime minister vows to secure borders." n nI'm trying to imagine a mainstream American publication referring to immigrants as "infiltrators." Adelson attempts to promote one immigration policy for America and another for Israel. I think this is the first attempt I've ever seen that pretends the policies of the two are indistinguishable. n nIsrael is building a wall along the Sinai border to prevent illegal incursions. According to the Guardian, "Ktzi'ot prison in the Negev desert, close to Israel's border with Egypt, … will become the world's largest holding facility for asylum seekers and migrants." Yet oligarchical mass-immigration advocates such as Adelson seek to preserve these policies while simultaneously sponsoring the opposite policies in the US. n nI haven't come to expect honesty from our Machiavellian power brokers, but give us a little credit.
The People of the Book? or the People of Self-Congratulation?