Hat tip to Dealscape - of TheDeal.com - for their willingness to rake through the database of the Federal Election Commission to find out who Wall Street is backing for POTUS 08.
So who’s got more Street cred? Per Dealscape:
The FEC giving trend clearly favored Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y. (Jamie Dimon, Lloyd Blankfein, John Mack), who received money from three CEOs, whereas John McCain, R-Ariz., received money from one (John Thain), and Obama had to share Lehman Brothers Inc.’s Richard Fuld’s largess with both rivals.
As for activist investor types - they prefer to share their spoils with the Democrats, except for Carl “Obama would be a terrible president” Icahn and Harbinger Capital Partners’ Philip Falcone, who both donated to Republican Rudy Giuliani.
But why, mused Dealscape’s Matthew Wurtzel, “are activists overwhelmingly Democrats despite the party’s push to change rules concerning carried interest and regulate hedge funds?”
Wurtzel’s take? It’s all about shareholder interests:
Republicans are often associated with managerial and corporate interests. Activists are a little like class-action attorneys: They view themselves as tilting against an establishment. And in the great governance wars, Democrats tend to favor shareholders.
Another interesting factoid:
Given the sheer number of candidates, most of the activists ended up backing losers. The exceptions: Pershing Square Capital Partners’ William Ackman and Third Point’s Dan Loeb, who both picked Obama to win even before Iowa.
Related links:
Icahn blasts Obama at investor conference - Dealscape
Obama sets himself tough task in resisting lure of lobbyists - FT
