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"    LAS VEGAS \u2014 In American politics, or at least the version of it since Citizens United, cash has become the ultimate cloaking device. And no one has been able to afford a bigger shroud this year than Sheldon Adelson, the casino magnate whose slot-machine empire stretches from the 24-hour blur of the strip here to the Chinese protectorate of Macau. The latest available campaign-finance records show that Adelson and his wife, Miriam, have been the two biggest individual donors of this election, handing candidates and super-PACS more than $53 million (that we know of), including $20 million to Restore our Future, the super-PAC created to put Mitt Romney in the White House tonight.  For all the layers of power wrapped in his casino lucre, though, the man himself lately has been as hard to find as the true scope of his record-setting contributions. One day, he&amp;#039;s back in Vegas atop his glittering empire so Paul Ryan can kiss his ring; the next, he&amp;#039;s jetting to Israel to support his close friend Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a family memorial service. Political types here and across the country speak of him in almost hushed tones, trading rumors and tidbits of his last known whereabouts. If the mythical creature Mitt Romney can live without is Big Bird, the one he can&amp;#039;t is Shelly Adelson, 2012&amp;#039;s Kaiser S\u00F6ze \u2014 at once everywhere and nowhere at all, surfacing for something and then, you know, poof. Adelson&amp;#039;s employees certainly haven&amp;#039;t seen a lot of their boss lately. During an Election Day trip to the Venetian, not a single employee could remember the last time they caught a glimpse of the boss. &amp;quot;We basically never see the guy,&amp;quot; said a smiling, middle-aged woman filling in for a friend at one of the casino information desks and who asked her name not be used. Other employees told a similar story. &amp;quot;I don&amp;#039;t know, one day he&amp;#039;s here, the next day he&amp;#039;s flying off to go somewhere. Sometimes, it&amp;#039;s like he&amp;#039;s a ghost,&amp;quot; said one of Adelson&amp;#039;s casino floor managers who asked to be referred to as Alex. &amp;quot;Somebody said he&amp;#039;s going to be with Mitt Romney tonight, but, uh, that&amp;#039;s just what I heard.&amp;quot; According to CNN, Adelson is, in fact, slated to attend Romney&amp;#039;s election night party in Boston. Whether Romney wins tonight could have a direct bearing on how visible, or invisible, Adelson will be in the months to come. A Romney victory would surely result in a larger public role for his largest individual donor, those hushed local political types say. If Romney wins, Adelson would likely feel free to try to bend the new president&amp;#039;s policies toward Israel, the Palestinians and Iran to his conservative will in a more public way. Still, it&amp;#039;s not at all clear how much Adelson believes in the possibility of a Republican victory. His adjoining resort and convention center at the Palazzo will host an election-night party here, but unlike years past this Republican shindig is closed to the public.  --Jason Whited is a freelance investigator marveling at Vegas&amp;#039;s boozy, desert collective. -- ELECTION-NIGHT RESULTS ON THE POLITICS BLOG... \u2022 THE SPEECH: Tom Junod on the Transformation in Chicago \u2022 THE PRESIDENCY: Charles P. Pierce on the Greatness of Barack Obama \u2022 THE VIEW FROM OHIO: Mark Warren on the Worst Victory Party in America \u2022 THE VIEW FROM TWITTER: Stephen Marche on How Math (and Obama) Won \u2022 MASSACHUSETTS: Charles P. Pierce on How Elizabeth Warren Got Here  ELECTION DAY ON THE POLITICS BLOG, FROM EVERY SWING STATE... \u2022 FLORIDA: Charles P. Pierce with the Voting-Rights Watchdogs \u2022 OHIO: Mark Warren Traveling with Governor John Kasich (and with Romney) \u2022 NEW HAMPSHIRE: Margaret Doris in 5-Vote Territory (and with Romney) \u2022 VIRGINIA: Elizabeth Sile on Voter-ID in New Blue County \u2022 NEVADA:  \u2022 WISCONSIN: Joe Tarr on the Voter Fraud That Wasn&amp;#039;t \u2022 NORTH CAROLINA: Aaron Gwyn on the Independent&amp;#039;s Indecision \u2022 IOWA: Kyle Minor on the Easy Magic of the Battleground \u2022 COLORADO: Sam Levin at the Last Defeat Party (and with Obama and Romney) \u2022 ...AND PENNSYLVANIA: Isaiah Thompson on the Blue State That Would Be Red PLUS: John H. Richardson in Breezy Point with Sandy Victims Voting "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/news/a16620/sheldon-adelson-election-day-14504036/>