Macau was no help to Barack Obama in attaining his recent presidential victory. Leaders of US casinos operating here gave their overwhelming support to defeated Republican candidate John McCain.
The leaders of all three US casino corporations operating in Macau contributed as much as they could to the presidential campaign of Republican Party nominee Senator John McCain, and none of them spent a dollar supporting the Democratic Party candidate, now President-Elect Barack Obama.
According to US official records, Sheldon Adelson (Las Vegas Sands), Steve Wynn (Wynn Resorts) and Kirk Kerkorian (MGM Mirage) each donated US$2,300 to John McCain’s electoral effort – the maximum amount an individual can contribute in support of a single candidate as allowed by the complex legislation governing campaign finance in the United States.
In what can be described as a dreadful wrong bet by the big bosses of the US gambling companies operating in Macau, not even when two of them decided to show some bipartisan flair did they favour Obama. Both Kerkorian and Wynn gave the same maximum contribution of $2,300 to Vice President-Elect Joe Biden, when he was still fighting for the Democratic Party nomination in the primary elections, but for Obama, not a nickel.
Besides spreading money to a number of congressional candidates from both parties, including incumbent Speaker of the House of Representatives Democrat Nancy Pelosy, Kerkorian also made contributions to both the Democratic and the Republican National Committees in the maximum amount allowed by law – US$28,500 to each. His lieutenant at MGM Mirage, (recently retired) company president Terry Lanni, also a supporter of John McCain, was less generous to Democrats: he helped a few of them in their quest for a seat on Capitol Hill but offered no money to their national committee or to their presidential candidates.
On the losing side
Steve Wynn’s contributions were pretty much in line with Kerkorian’s. He supported both McCain and Biden, helped some Democrats and Republicans in their bids for Congress and gave money to the national committees of both parties, but, probably as a way to make it clear where his political allegiances lie, he offered $28,500 to the Republican National Committee and only $3,500 to that of the Democrats.
Interestingly, Steve Wynn’s wife, Elaine, donated in a very similar way to her husband at the beginning of the election cycle but then offered outspoken support to Barack Obama, contributing the maximum legal amount and helping raise more than $50,000 for his campaign.
Why were the big bosses of MGM Mirage and Wynn Resorts ready to support Democrats and Republicans alike, but not Obama? His stance on gambling-related issues doesn’t seem to have been the problem. Analysts were unanimous in predicting that the result of the US Presidential Election would not affect the industry, as both candidates basically share the same easy approach to gaming. The only significant difference is that Obama seemed more willing than McCain to allow tribal casinos outside the historic Native American Indian Reservations, something that would have little impact on Las Vegas. Therefore, it’s much more likely that Kerkorian and Wynn did not help fund Obama’s campaign because of his promise to raise taxes for big corporations and, probably, his inexperience, as well.
Contrary to his main rivals in the gaming industry, but as was widely expected, Sheldon Adelson didn’t mind placing all his eggs in one basket: his donations went to Republican candidates or organisations only. Not surprisingly, he was one of the most generous contributors in the whole country.
He started by supporting Rudy Giuliani in the Republican Party primary elections – even lending him his private jet – before moving to McCain’s side when the former New York mayor dropped out of the race. He also funded the campaigns of a myriad of Republican congressional candidates and the efforts of national and state-level Republican election committees. More importantly, he gave US$5 million to ‘American Solutions Winning the Future’, a so-called 527 group created by former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich to address problems affecting American society. 527 groups are tax-exempt organisations named for a section of the United States
tax code. They are not subject to the fund raising limits imposed by campaign finance legislation and are primarily intended to influence the nomination, election, appointment or defeat of candidates for public office by debating specific issues.Theoretically, they should not co-ordinate their efforts with the candidates’ White House campaigns, but they have indeed been quite relevant in previous elections.
Adelson also gave over US$1.2 million to the Republican Governors Association, making him the largest individual donor to 527 groups in the whole country with a total of $6,247,650 – ahead of Democratic Party supporter George Soros, who spent close to 5 million. In addition, Las Vegas Sands Corp. made contributions to these groups which also neared the 5 million mark. In clear contrast, MGM Mirage offered just $260,000 to the Republican Governors Association and $150,000 to that of the Democrats, and Wynn Resorts gave $100,000 to the Republicans and $5,000 to the Democrats.
Finally, both MGM Mirage and the Venetian Casino Resort also created their own Political Action Committees (another way to engage in political fund raising) and through them supported a number of federal candidates. MGM gave $140,000 to Democrats and $57,000 to Republicans, while the Venetian offered $9,000 to Republicans only.
Dissent is something Sheldon Adelson did not face, either at the office or at home. His business right-hand man, Las Vegas Sands President William Weidner, and his wife, Miriam, were also supporters of Giuliani, McCain and several other Republican politicians and institutions. Their contributions matched almost entirely those of Adelson’s.
However, contrary to popular belief, the casino industry as a whole offered more financial support to Democrats than to Republicans in 2008, as was most often the case over the last two decades. The rather different shares enjoyed by Democrats and Republicans in the latest election cycle were 61 and 39 percent, respectively.
As it’s well known, in global terms Barack Obama has beaten all-time records by raising a staggering US$639 million, allowing his campaign to outspend John McCain’s by 280 million. For sure, he could afford the lack of generosity from those who fund some of their prosperity with Macau’s gambling halls.