Mel Sembler with Lynne Cheney at
American Enterprise Institute gala ’09, at David Frum’s blog
Romney backer Mel Sembler, a real estate guy, is a giant supporter of Israel. He’s on the board of the neoconservative American Enterprise Institute. He chaired a defense committee for Scooter Libby. He took Mitt Romney to Israel in 2007–and is pictured with Romney and that other megarich Israel-backer Sheldon Adelson at that link.
You might think that when The New York Times covered Romney’s Super PAC the other day, the machine called “Restore Our Future” that crushed Newt Gingrich, the Times would say something about Sembler’s game, and Adelson’s?
You would be wrong. Reporters Nicholas Confessore and Jim Rutenberg:
“Restore Our Future has been very important,” said Mel Sembler, a top Republican donor and a member of Mr. Romney’s Florida finance team. “They’ve had an impact, there’s no question about it.” …
The group’s backers appeared to be briefly spooked when word circulated that Sheldon Adelson, a wealthy casino magnate who is close to Mr. Gingrich, had committed $20 million to a super PAC supporting him. One of Restore Our Future’s donors called Mr. Sembler in a panic, he said, and asked him to call Mr. Adelson — the two men are friends — to find out if it was true.
“I did call Sheldon,” Mr. Sembler said. “And he said, ‘I’m not only not giving $20 million, I haven’t given any money at all.’ ”
The Times article also mentions Sam Fox as a Romney backer, without saying what the Republican Jewish Coalition will tell you: he’s their former chairman, he was an ambassador for George Bush who accompanied Bush to Israel. I.e., he too is the Israel lobby personified.
I’m a Times subscriber. And I wonder how much of Mitt Romney’s backing comes from pro-Israel Jews– and how much of his fencing with Obama on Iran is about fundraising. But the best newspaper in the country is silent on these important issues.
Paul Stanley, in the Christian Post last fall, is far more informative about the nexus of religion and politics:
Fred Zeidman, a Houston, Texas, business leader who has supported a number of evangelical candidates, including former President George W. Bush, has also worked for Romney since 2007.
“Every major Jewish Republican fundraiser that I know has been with Mitt since his first run for president,” Zeidman told The Jewish Daily Forward.
Mel Sembler, who served as U.S. Ambassador to both Australia and Italy in each of the Bush presidencies, and is what is considered a “heavyweight” in fundraising circles, has also signed on with Romney.
“I supported Mitt in ’07 and ’08 and took him to Israel with me in ’07,” Sembler told The Christian Post. “I’ve always been impressed with his business experience and understanding of our economy. Rick [Perry] is a good friend and I’ve supported him in his races for governor. But Mitt has twenty-five years of business experience and four years of political experience. I like that combination much better.”…
“Obama is losing support in the Jewish community,” said Sembler. “I think that’s evident on every fundraising trip he’s making to New York.”
After all was said and done, the fact is that many influential and rich Jewish americans are willing to spend a lot of money to support a candidate that will tow the line to support Israel.
Ok, so are Jewish americans the only ones with money and have an interest in “buying” a candidate. Saudis and UAE and other Gulf countries have billions if not trillions they can use for the same purpose. Where are they all, or have they all decided to throw in the towel and instead enjoy their money on other things.
It seems to me that Billions of dollars are being spent to buy candidate to support a war that has already been won ten times over. So what other reasons are there still to “buy” a candidate. Could it be that the fight for Israel is really just a facade and the real focus is on something tottally different…. the fight for the USA.
You can just see the fear of anti-semitism all over Mel’s face…
Gimme a break. The Christian Post article is SPECIFICALLY about Jewish Romney supporters. The NY Times article is about Romney’s Super PAC. If the Times was writing about Romney’s support in the Jewish community, they would write the same stuff as the Christian Post.
Boy, when it comes to the media monitoring game, Phil, you are an whiny and ridiculous and anyone else is.
Gal Beckerman in the Daily Forward thinks Ron Paul is so irredeemably tainted by his opposition to support of Israel that the fact that Romney and Santorum have said that they would support Ron Paul if he got the Republican nomination also tarnishes them.
You should follow the link to the picture in David Frumm’s Blog. It is a picture of who’s who in Neoconservatives and their beneficiaries (at least one percent of them). I bet none of these people went to bed hungry any time intheir lives. See the picture with Scalia…now there’s a picture that’s worth a few words. by the way, David’s wife…wow, i wouldn’t want to wake up next to that.