How I Went From Democrat to the GOP's Money Man

Sheldon Adelson has made his opinion known this election season—mostly by writing gigantic checks. But the casino mogul and GOP super-donor spoke out in his own words in a Wall Street Journal op-ed today, explaining that he grew up as a Democrat. "Indeed, only liberal politicians campaigned in our underprivileged [Boston] neighborhood." Critics may believe he switched because he became wealthy "or because of some other conservative caricature," but he says the truth is he hasn't changed, "the Democratic Party has changed."

"There is now a visceral anti-Israel movement among rank-and-file Democrats," which was on full display when DNC delegates booed formally recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital. What's more, "Democrats seem to have moved away from the immigrant values of my old neighborhood—in particular individual charity and neighborliness." Red states tend to give more than blue states, with liberals preferring to rely on flawed government programs to help the poor, he writes. In funding Republicans, Adelson thinks he's made the right choice—the one "my old immigrant Jewish neighbors would have made." Click for his full piece. (More Sheldon Adelson stories.)