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One of Florida's biggest conservative Republican moneymen - and a billionaire backer of Jeb Bush - is so disgusted by Donald Trump's candidacy that if he has to, he'll do the unthinkable: "If I have a choice - and you can put it in bold - if I have a choice between Trump and Hillary Clinton, I'm choosing Hillary," Miami healthcare magnate Mike Fernandez told the Miami Herald on Friday.

American businessman Sheldon Adelson with his wife, Miriam Adelson, center, during a roundtable discussion in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images) It is the biggest financial prize in Republican presidential politics: the endorsement of Sheldon Adelson, the multibillionaire casino magnate legendary for his willingness to spend huge sums to promote the candidates of his choosing. But this year the bidding to become the winner of what is informally called the “Adelson primary” has gotten complicated. After being wooed by virtually all the major GOP contenders, the 82-year-old Adelson was believed to be close to announcing his backing of Florida Sen....

Donald Trump, speaking to the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC), repeatedly said that Jews won't vote for him because, since he isn't accepting donations, they will not be able to control him with their money. “You are not going to support me even though you know I am the best thing that could happen for Israel. I know why you are not going to support me. You’re not going to support me because I don’t want your money,” Trump told a full auditorium of Jewish donors and Republican Jewish supporters. “You want to control your own politicians.” This plays into...

As the combative mogul enters his fifth month at the top of the GOP presidential field, attempts to derail him remain anemic, underfunded and unfocused — and they are likely to stay that way until the Iowa caucuses in less than 10 weeks. Most of the party’s financiers and top strategists are sitting on the sidelines. Many are reluctant to spend money against Trump after watching others fumble as they tried to handle his counter-punches. Others, citing past elections, remain confident that the race will eventually pivot away from him early next year.

Billionaire Paul Singer, best known in politics for his backing of Jewish and LGBT causes, has backed Florida Senator Marco Rubio in the GOP presidential race. The biggest donor in the 2014 race, Singer's LGBT activism is due to the orientation of his son, Andrew. The elder Singer has created at least two groups dedicated to protecting the state of Israel, loosening immigration laws, and expanding the role of government in promoting the LGBT community's goals. Rubio's star has risen since last week's GOP debate, especially with potential competitors for donors either leaving the race, such as Wisconsin governor Scott...

Jeb! says that he 'could be doing a lot of cool stuff'  if he wasn't burdened by a hereditary greatness that  demands he serve Bush-Rove Machine donors... Like making guacamole in official ($75) Jeb! Guaca-Bowla Or selling ugly shirts with a pic of himself as a hippy  Smoking weed Selling weed Smuggling coke/heroin Babbling incoherently on Twitter Teaching his spoiled, lazy wife to speak English Boring people to death He could get a lobotomy just for fun Finally do something about that black hand (gangrene?) Maybe sit around saying stupid things... Or just catch-up on quality time with La Familia... [graphics]

As Jeb Bush heads to Texas on Sunday to rally top fundraisers along with his father and brother, former presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush, the family’s vaunted financial network is mostly disengaged and splintered—and his campaign stock is falling. The one-time front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination is roughly tied for third place among GOP contenders in campaign cash and has fallen to fourth or fifth place in national polls, including the latest Wall Street Journal/NBC News survey. His crowds are modest. He failed to dominate in either of the GOP debates, and million-dollar ad buys in...

Donald Trump likes to boast about his enormous wealth and how he doesn't need anyone else's money to pay for his presidential campaign. That hasn't stopped tens of thousands of people from chipping in with checks as small as $10 to let the Republican candidate know they're behind him.

Sheldon Adelson, one of the Republican Party's most sought-after contributors, is leaning increasingly toward supporting Marco Rubio — and the Florida senator is racing to win the backing of other uncommitted megadonors who have the potential to direct tens of millions of dollars his way and alter the contours of the Republican primary fight.

No wonder Hillary is getting so aggressive in her attacks on the Benghazi committee It’s really not hard to put this together. On the one hand, you’ve got a highly ambitious, money-grubbing politician who is obsessed with becoming president - but who has to settle for Secretary of State because actually getting elected proves difficult when you’re an unappealing and totally inept candidate. On the other hand, you’ve got this person’s ex-husband - oh, sorry, ex-president husband - who along with her has set up a “global charity” that rakes in big dollars from the most influential people in the...

<p>Bundling campaign donations is no longer just for the well-heeled and well-connected.</p> <p>Sen. Ted Cruz’s presidential campaign is launching a social crowd-funding platform this week that encourages small donors to set up mini-fundraising operations by dangling video game-style badges and “secret events” as rewards.</p>

MIAMI — One day in the State Capitol in Tallahassee, Marco Rubio, the young speaker of the House, strayed from the legislative proceedings to single out a lanky, silver-haired man seated in the balcony: a billionaire auto dealer named Norman Braman. This man, Mr. Rubio said in effusive remarks in 2008, was no ordinary billionaire, hoarding his cash or using it to pursue selfish passions. “He’s used it,” Mr. Rubio said, “to enrich the lives of so many people whose names you will never know.” As it turned out, one of the people enriched was Mr. Rubio himself. As Mr....

My goodness. If this is true and the money starts drying up, Jeb can’t possibly keep going based on what he’s already raised for more than, say, another nine months, right?He’s got a president father and a president brother. Half of the donor class either worked for one or both of them or owes them some sort of favor. Jeb’s not going to run out of money. Jeb Bush is entering a critical phase of his Republican presidential campaign, with top donors warning that the former Florida governor needs to demonstrate growth in the polls over the next month...

documents from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)... confirm that the IRS used donor lists to tax-exempt organizations to target those donors for audits. The documents also show IRS officials specifically highlighted how the U.S. Chamber of Commerce may come under “high scrutiny” from the IRS. The IRS produced the records in a Freedom of Information lawsuit seeking documents about selection of individuals for audit-based application information on donor lists submitted by Tea Party and other 501(c)(4) tax-exempt organizations....Lois Lerner, who has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, is mentioned four times in the report...In 2009, Barack Obama “joked” about having the IRS...

And well they should. A new CNN poll released last night shows a staggering 19-point drop in Hillary Clinton’s poll numbers over the last two months. That’s taken her from a commanding 56/19 lead in July over Bernie Sanders to just a 37/27 lead. It’s also dropped Hillary into a three way race with Joe Biden, who now gets 20% of the poll — and 35% for second choice, beating both Hillary and Sanders.Chuck Todd says that Hillary donors — who thought she was unbeatable — must be panicking by now. With each poll now, Todd says, “it feels...

Despite his prior pledge to self-fund his campaign, the billionaire businessman now appears to be embracing big donors. ...even as Trump publicly scorned other candidates’ use of super PACs, he tacitly gave approval to the Make America Great Again PAC by attending a fundraiser the group held [in July]. Trump spoke for between 10 and 15 minutes at the mid-July fundraiser, where about 200 people packed into a private residence in Manhattan. “There are so many people wanting to contribute and I am so grateful for their support. I appreciate the moral investment in my vision to Make America Great...

The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported President Obama spoke at a Nevada State Democratic Party fundraiser for Catherine Cortez Masto, who is running for Harry Reid’s Senate seat in 2016. “The event was held at the Henderson home of Las Vegas Sun editor and publisher Brian Greenspun. Contributions at the event hit a high of $33,400. The event, which drew more than 100 people, raised more than $300,000.” What kind of newspaper is the Las Vegas Sun that its editor and publisher hosts Democratic Party fundraisers with the president? A routinely partisan one. Jon Ralston, just hailed by Chuck Todd on...

Although Donald Trump has suggested he would use his vast wealth to self-fund his campaign, freeing him from the control of special interests, the Republican frontrunner said Sunday he was open to major campaign donations. "We have a lot of small contributors. I would even take big contributors, as long as they don't expect anything, because the only people that can expect something from me is going to be the people that want to see our country be great again," Trump said on CBS's "Face the Nation." "I actually like the idea of investing in a campaign, but it has...

The first GOP primary debate of the year, hosted by Fox News and moderated by three of their best, kicked off in headline-grabbing style when the moderator team backed candidate Donald Trump into a corner about the possibility of running on a third-party ticket. But the attacks didn’t stop there. Out of the six questions that Trump was asked, most of them were nothing more than thinly veiled attacks in what conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh suggested was a targeted effort by the GOP establishment to slam the brakes on Trump’s momentum. While Limbaugh had reported that there was a...

Trump’s donations reveal a typical businessman looking out for his interests -- and what politicians can do to help him -- more than an ideologue backing like-minded candidates. He’s given money to New York-area politicians of both parties, for instance, including both of New York’s Democratic senators, Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, as well as local Republicans such as New York Congressman Peter King. Trump gave a token $2,500 to the Romney presidential campaign during the 2012 election. Scott Walker. Trump gave the Wisconsin governor $10,000 last year, when Walker was running for a second term. It seems to have...