Casino magnate Sheldon Adelson is expected to be one of the leading purchasers of a Republican presidential candidate.
The Republican Party really wanted to avoid a drawn-out presidential primary like it faced in 2012, but it doesn't look like that's what it's going to get, thanks in large part to the weak campaign finance laws the party otherwise loves. Many of the Republican presidential candidates have a billionaire or at least $100 millionaire funding a super PAC, and that means they'll be able to run serious campaigns and stay in the race
even if they don't win the early states:
“There could be as many as a dozen candidates that have a threshold amount of money in their campaigns and super PACs to compete vigorously in the early states,” said Phil Cox, a Republican strategist who runs America Leads, a super PAC supporting New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie that has the backing of at least two billionaires. [...]
Indeed, contenders such as Cruz and former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee are crafting long-game strategies, staking their hopes on a wave of Southern state primaries that will not take place until March. Although next year’s compressed primary schedule could intensify the momentum for a front-runner, it could also help a range of contenders pick up delegates if a single leader does not quickly emerge.
That means it's likely to get bitter, and even the candidates who are now campaigning with an eye on the general election will likely have to veer hard-right to appeal to the Republican base. They may all be focused on attacking Hillary Clinton now, but at some point, Scott Walker and Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz and Rand Paul are going to be at each other's throats.
Another liability of the billionaire system of campaign funding is that, well, it sure doesn't help the Republican Party's image as the party of the uber-wealthy. And if a candidate only made it through the primaries because of millions, or tens of millions, of dollars in donations from one or two people, he runs the risk of looking bought and paid for.
“What seems like really big money is less than a yacht,” [Newt] Gingrich said in an interview. Wealthy donors could decide that “this year, instead of buying a new yacht, I’m going to spend $70 million on a candidate,” he said.
So, when it comes to prestige purchases, presidential candidates are the new yacht?