GOP elite line up behind Donald Trump ‘It’s a pretty simple calculus: Do you want to win or do you want to lose?’ one operative says.
By Alex Isenstadt
05/20/16 05:14 AM EDT
The Never Trump moment is over.While a small group of Republicans has wrung its hands raw over the choice between the GOP’s nominee and Hillary Clinton, the party’s firmament – social and intellectual conservatives, the lobbyist and donor class, powerful operatives and outside groups – is increasingly getting in line behind Donald Trump.
Never mind that many of them complain about his bombastic and unpredictable political style. The thawing has slowly but surely begun - and it’s visible everywhere -- from mega-donors like Foster Friess rallying Republican governors to Trump, to Mitt Romney’s allies agreeing to raise money for him, to leaders of the Never Trump movement conceding their cause is lost.
“I am slow-walking the Donald Trump candidacy. It’s a very deliberative process. You can’t beat Hillary Clinton with nothing, and the question is can we fundamentally energize conservatives quickly and can we use our joint desires to unite to find a path forward,” said Ken Blackwell, a former ambassador in the George W. Bush White House and key figure in conservative circles who formerly advised an anti-Trump super PAC. “That’s very methodically playing out.”
The biggest sea change may be taking place in the donor world. During the primary, Trump put Republican Party benefactors on notice, arguing they had far too much influence and pledging that he wouldn’t court and woo them – an attack that left many of them with a bad taste in their mouths. Yet, as they ponder the prospect of another Clinton presidency, many of the GOP’s most wealthy figures are drawing up plans to finance Trump’s campaign.
While attending a Republican Governors Association retreat in New Mexico this week, Foster Friess, a Wyoming investor who has given million to GOP candidates and causes over the years, announced that he would get behind the New York businessman, according to two people present.
“Trump’s our nominee. We’ve got to support him,” Friess, the primary funder of Rick Santorum’s 2012 presidential bid, told a group of governors, operatives, and donors. “He’s better than Hillary, and I’m encouraging everyone to support him.” (Neither Friess nor a spokesman would comment.)
Others are getting involved. Andy Beal, a poker-playing Dallas investor whose net worth is said to top $11 billion, is expected to attend a June political briefing that’s being sponsored by a pro-Trump super PAC. And a team of influential donors, including former Republican National Committee finance chairs Elliott Broidy, Ron Weiser, and Ray Washburne, are expected to help raise money for a Trump fundraising committee that was established this week with the national party.
“Now that he’s the nominee, there’s a gradual recognition and understanding that we’re going to be helpful to him,” said Tom Tellefsen, a Los Angeles investor who was a major fundraiser on Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential bid.
Tellefsen, who helped Marco Rubio in the primary, acknowledged that many remained uncomfortable with Trump but said most big GOP donors would come around. He predicted that even those loyal to Romney, a loud Trump critic, would eventually open their wallets.
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http://www.politico.com/story/2016/05/gop-elite-line-up-behind-donald-trump-223394 
