Sheldon Adelson and Newt Gingrich are "citizens united"



Sheldon Adelson and Newt Gingrich are "citizens united"



In a move that could again dramatically shake up the Republican primary race, billionaire and major Republican donor Sheldon Adelson is expected to donate an additional $10 million to the super PAC supporting Newt Gingrich, Winning Our Future, a source with knowledge of the donation told CNN. That contribution is expected soon, before the end of the month, the source said.

With Super Tuesday coming up on March 6 and Mitt Romney's super PAC securing $2.5 million in ad space reserved today alone, the timing here is important and would appear to give Newt Gingrich an edge over Rick Santorum.

I'd love to know why Adelson was parting with such a big pile of cash. Given the moribund state of Newt Gingrich's campaign, a donation like this could plausibly be seen as tantamount to giving a boost to Mitt Romney—to the extent that Gingrich pulls votes from Santorum, it helps Mitt. But even if that were Adelson's goal, Mitt might not be so happy to have Newt's campaign still alive—if he shreds Santorum, there's always the risk that it will be Newt who benefits, not Mitt.

Perhaps the real explanation is the simplest one—that Adelson simply wants to help Newt Gingrich amass as many delegates as possible before April 3, when states have the option of running winner-take-all primaries (not all states will take advantage of that option, however). In a brokered convention, the more delegates you control, the more powerful you are. And if that's where Republicans are headed, Sheldon Adelson is positioning himself to have a tremendous amount of clout.