In the midst of a US economy bedeviled by stagnant housing prices and high unemployment, Wall Street is one of the few places in the country that is better off than it was four years ago.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index is up 65 percent under President Obama — the largest gain for any first-term president since Dwight D. Eisenhower over the comparable stretch from 1953 through August 1956.
But as the Democratic National Convention opens today in Charlotte, NC, President Obama and his fellow Democrats are not feeling the love. Less than 30 percent of the $372 million in political donations from the financial sector this year has gone to Democrats.
“Within the banking industry, Obama has made people an enormous amount of money, and they seem to have forgotten that,” said a hedge-fund manager who supports Obama.
Few places is the trend more obvious than in the powerful hedge-fund industry, whose love affair with Obama soured as he threatened to raise taxes on the superrich.
In an about-face from 2008, only a quarter of the industry’s $19 million in donations has gone to Dems this year.
The Republican big bucks trend is worrying hedge-fund Democrats. “We have yet to see the impact of the Citizens United ruling,” said a hedgie, referring the landmark Supreme Court decision that paved the way for unrestricted corporate donations to political campaigns. He predicted a deluge of corporate money for Republican nominee Mitt Romney in the last days of the campaign.
Moreover, employees at the top 10 Democratic hedge fund firms have so far given $3.6 million to Democrats, including SuperPacs, which is 58 percent less than the $8.5 million in 2008, an analysis by the Center for Responsive Politics shows.
The dropoff is largely due to a pullback by philanthropist George Soros. He gave more than $5 million during 2008, much of it to liberal 527 special interest groups. So far this year, Soros has donated about $1.2 million.
Other hedgie Democrats pulling back include Tom Steyer of Farallon Capital and Marc Lasry of Avenue Capital, supporters of both Clintons. Perry Capital’s Richard Perry, another Clintonite, has made no contributions this year, according to the CRP.
Even some big Obama fans, like Eton Park Capital’s Eric Mindich, are coughing up less this time. Mindich, however, still raised money for Obama this year, as did Lasry, D.E. Shaw’s David Shaw, Taconic Capital’s Frank Brosens and Boston Provident’s Orin Kramer.