Gingrich has a lot of rich friends, plenty of whom have contributed in some way to his campaign. While he falls behind in endorsements and support from fellow politicians, his funding comes disproportionally from big business, rather than cumulative small donations. Still, Gingrich defends that he still pails in comparison to Romney's funds, much of which also comes from rich friends. On the other hand, Gingrich has to be aware of who are his friends. Adelson has controversial views and a history a suspect business practices.Newt Gingrich is no stranger to the arts of government funding, in terms of campaign contributions. He is well known for his dealings with rich businessmen, who are eager to have a powerful representative on their side.
This Friday, a billionaire named Sheldon Adelson, a long term friend of Newt Gingrich, gave 5 million dollars to one of his super-pacs. Gingrich supporters had been after him for weeks to help finance a counterattack to Romney's aggressive ads in Iowa, which helped bring down Gingrich's momentary lead. They reserved most of the money for advertising in South Carolina, where Gingrich would have to win or come close to winning, to stay in the race for the White House.
The recent Supreme Court decision opened up campaign funding to even less scrutiny, allowing businesses and billionaires to but public officials. Gingrich in particular can be grateful that the only thing keeping his presidential hopes afloat, can't be found to be illegal.
Nicholas Confessore and Eric Lipton
New York Times 'A Big Check, and Gingrich Gets a Big Lift'
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/10/us/politics/sheldon-adelson-a-billionaire-gives-gingrich-a-big-lift.html?ref=politics
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