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Casino magnate and Republican megadonor Sheldon Adelson, one of the GOPs most forceful advocates for a hawkish foreign policy, is willing to fund an effort to stop Rand Paul from securing the partys presidential nomination, should the libertarian-leaning Kentucky senators campaign pick up steam.

The revelation comes in a New York Times analysis of the GOPs internal divisions over foreign policy heading into next years campaign. The rise of the Islamic State militant group has reinvigorated interventionists like Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Marco Rubio (R-FL), both of whom would make national security and global affairs central themes of their presidential campaigns, should they run. Meanwhile, Paul is coming under withering intra-party criticism due to his general reluctance to support military force and his backing for the Obama administrations positions on the Iranian nuclear negotiations and the diplomatic rapprochement with Cuba.

The guy whos now got the biggest challenge because of this is Rand Paul, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, told the Times, speaking of the GOPs increased attention to foreign policy. The Rand Paul worldview, which I suspect will change, is just incompatible with reality.

While it remains to be seen how Pauls all-but-certain campaign will perform, Adelson is telling associates that hell bankroll an effort to thwart the senator should he come within reach of securing the partys nod, the paper reports.

Though Adelson has yet to back a 2016 candidate, GOP hopefuls are vying assiduously to secure his support in next years contest. Scott Walker, Jeb Bush, Chris Christie, Marco Rubio, Mike Huckabee, and John Kasich have all made sojourns to Las Vegas to curry favor with Adelson, who contributed $150 million to Republican candidates and outside groups during the 2012 campaign. Adelson backed Gingrich in that years GOP primaries, pouring $15 million into his campaign. While Gingrich lost the nomination to Mitt Romney, Adelsons contributions kept Gingrichs campaign afloat far longer than it would otherwise have remained above water.

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Sheldon Adelson signals hell bankroll effort to stop ...