He was one of 250 "well-connected Republicans" who in early 2015 met in Utah with Mitt Romney and two Senators who wanted to be President. Lubert and his wife gave to Carly Fiorina, Ben Carson and NJ Gov. Chris Christie. (His father is real estate investor and casino owner Ira Lubert, who chairs the Penn State board, invested over $1 billion in Pa. pension money, and was a past Pa. campaign donor. Ira and Jon Lubert say they don't invest or donate together.)
Where is Jon Lubert now? He has turned to Donald Trump as the less-bad of the leading candidates. Here's why:
POLICY: "While I haven't really been able to get excited about either candidate, I'd say that Trump has some characteristics that I like.
"His narcisissm and some of his temperament and the way he phrases things counteracts a lot of the positive things he has to say. Policywise, I'm a lot more in line with him than I was with Hillary.
PRACTICAL: "Of course, if it was just policy, I'd vote for Gary Johnson. But that would be voting for Hillary.
"It's a tough year for traditional conservative and libertarian types like myself. We'd like more fiscal conservatism and social liberalism. With Trump, I don't see fiscal conservatism as of yet. It's a tough year."
LOOK AT ME! "The process of running for president makes it hard for anyone to run who isn't a complete narcissist." Unlike in the 1960s, when President John F. Kennedy might date actress Marilyn Monroe and keep it secret, "now every single thing you do is under such scrutiny.
"Romney built companies. He made businesses successful. And yet he was scrutinized for some people laid off. Did they really think he was running for President just for the money? He was sacrificing money! To give back!
WAS ROMNEY SWIFT-BOATED, LIKE JOHN KERRY? "That's right. How do you get a good candidate if they rip your life apart?
DOESN'T TRUMP ATTRACT NEO-CONFEDERATES? "It's hard for me to believe that Trump's a racist, if he's been a developer in New York City, and he's had a bunch of women and African Americans working for him."
"He's been anti-David Duke for 25 years. But when a reporter is aggresively saying, 'You need to disavow this guy,' if you do, you look like a puppet to the 'politically correct' media -- which is exactly what Trump is against."
FAMILY MAN: "His children are ambitious and hardworking and well-spoken, which is very rare for a billionaire's children. Which gives me some optimism."
AREN'T BOTH CLINTON AND TRUMP AGAINST TPP, WHICH ISN'T WITH CHINA, BUT WITH OUR ASIA ALLIES? "We don't know. We're not allowed to read TPP. We need more information. Instead, they want it passed by the executive. We need transparency, at least to the Congress."
AREN'T TREATIES USUALLY NEGOTIATED IN SECRET? "My basic issue with the trade agreements is, I don't trust Obama to negotiate them in secret.
"I'm 100 percent for free trade. I'm not for unfair trade. I'm not convinced Obama, with his globalist view, is the best person to be negotiating for this country. Are we giving up control of the Internet?"
WILL RIPPING UP NAFTA BRING BACK DEAD U.S. FACTORY JOBS? "With healthcare costs and the U.S. regulatory regime, it's very difficult to compete with Mexico."
THE MEXICANS SAY WE NEED EACH OTHER, TO COMPETE WITH CHINA. "I don't like how China pegs its currency artiificially low while stealing intellectual property."
CAN TRUMP RUN THE GOVERNMENT? A LOT OF BUSINESS PEOPLE AROUND PHILLY REMEMBER WHAT HAPPENED TO TRUMP'S CASINOS IN ATLANTIC CITY... "He wouldn't be in my top 100 for President. But Clinton wouldn't be in my top 500. His skill set is better."
RUSSIA: MODEL OR WARNING? "She will rail on him about Putin and [Trump's] alleged support. But [as Obama's Secretary of State] she was on the 'Russian re-set' button. She thinks nobody remembers. Who caused all these foreign-policy blunders?
"Russia is probably our Number One political adversary. Romney called that."
YOU BUILT A POLITICAL-ENGAGEMENT WEBSITE, PowerYourVote.com. "It's a lot bigger job than it seems. I'm now looking for a 25-year-old political scientist to pay $30,000 a year to run it while they're working on their doctorate. It's very hard to engage middle-of-the-road people on political issues."
IS HE GIVING MONEY TO CANDIDATES FOR CONGRESS? "No. I'm so unexcited about politicians in general. Their ability to surprise me has gone away."