The super PAC mega-donors who dragged out the GOP primary are getting behind the establishment, rather than continuing to back rogue candidates and causes — as some in the Republican Party feared. Donors like Sheldon Adelson and Foster Friess, who gave millions to anti-establishment presidential primary campaigns, are starting to fall in line — promising to support Mitt Romney and cutting checks to groups fighting for congressional Republicans. Casino mogul Adelson and his wife, Miriam, who donated more than $15 million to a super PAC supporting Newt Gingrich’s presidential campaign, gave $5 million to a super PAC linked to House Speaker John Boehner in February — according to newly released filings. And Adelson is hosting a fundraiser next Friday at one of his Las Vegas hotels for a Boehner umbrella group that works closely with the Republican National Committee and the National Republican Congressional Committee, POLITICO has learned.
Last week, Friess, a Wyoming investor who donated $1.7 million to super PACs backing Rick Santorum’s since-aborted presidential campaign, told POLITICO he intended to support third-party groups backing Romney. And even supporters of Texas Gov. Rick Perry, like homebuilder Bob Perry and investors Harold Simmons and Harlan Crow, are giving six- and seven-figure donations to super PACs backing Romney and establishment Republican candidates.
It’s all good news for Republicans, since the moves suggest big outside donors who supported anti-establishment candidates are prepared to keep playing big in the general — but this time, it’s to beat up Democrats instead of rival Republicans. And the moves come as various factions of the conservative base — some of which had shown signs they’d resist a Romney-led ticket — also are coming together to support him, too.
Full Article: Billionaires fall in line – Kenneth P. Vogel – POLITICO.com.