Greater Greenspania in turmoil...
David Wighton and James Harding, Financial Times: Wall
Street's enthusiasm for US President George W. Bush
appears to have cooled as the presidential race
tightens and concerns grow about foreign policy and
fiscal deficits.
Some leading fundraisers of Mr Bush's re-election bid
have stopped active campaigning and others privately
voice reservations...one senior Wall Street figure,
once talked of as a possible Bush cabinet member, said
that he and other prominent Republicans had been
raising money with increasing reluctance. “Many are
doing so with a heavy heart and some not at all.” He
cited foreign policy and the ballooning federal
deficit as Wall Street Republicans' main concerns.
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Wall St fundraisers shy away from Bush
By David Wighton in New York and James Harding in
Washington
Published: August 26 2004 20:58 | Last updated: August
26 2004 20:58
Wall Street's enthusiasm for US President George W.
Bush appears to have cooled as the presidential race
tightens and concerns grow about foreign policy and
fiscal deficits.
Some leading fundraisers of Mr Bush's re-election bid
have stopped active campaigning and others privately
voice reservations.
The New York financial community is expected to give
the Republicans a lavish welcome when the president's
party arrives for its national convention next week.
Wall Street has been a big contributor to Mr Bush's
record-breaking re-election fund.
But one senior Wall Street figure, once talked of as a
possible Bush cabinet member, said that he and other
prominent Republicans had been raising money with
increasing reluctance. “Many are doing so with a heavy
heart and some not at all.” He cited foreign policy
and the ballooning federal deficit as Wall Street
Republicans' main concerns.
Hedging bets on Wall Street
On Monday evening, amid the plush surroundings of the
Rainbow Room on the top floor of that defiant monument
to New York opulence, Rockefeller Plaza, the
rainmakers will mingle with the lawmakers.
Go there
A Republican in the financial services industry
concurs. “Many of them may be maxed out,” he said,
referring to campaign contributions that have hit the
legal ceiling, “but they are backing away from Bush.”
The deficit has been criticised by Peter Peterson,
chairman and co-founder of Blackstone Group, the New
York investment firm, and former commerce secretary
under President Richard Nixon. In his new book,
Running on Empty, he accuses both parties of
recklessness but attacks the Republican leadership for
a “new level of fiscal irresponsibility”.
One New York dinner in June 2003 raised more than $4m,
partly thanks to the efforts of Stan O'Neal, chief
executive of Merrill Lynch. Yet Mr O'Neal has done no
fundraising for the campaign at all since then and
friends say he is not supporting Mr Bush. “He is best
described as independent,” said one. Another senior
Wall Street figure, who has given money to the
campaign, said he was among many Wall Street bosses
who were impressed with Mr Bush's handling of the
September 11 attacks. “But since then, I have lost
faith over foreign policy and tax,” he said.
Even those who are campaigning for Mr Bush sound
increasingly defensive. “Whether or not you like him,
you can't change leaders during a war,” said the head
of one Wall Street firm.