Part 2:
Once at Arm's Length, Wall Street Is Bush's Biggest Donor
Published: October 23, 2003
(Page 2 of 2)
"Many people on Wall Street finally got it," said Steve Bartlett, a former member of Congress who is now president of the Financial Services Roundtable, which represents financial services companies. "The president hasn't changed," he said. "Wall Street has evolved to see that the president is doing what's right for the American people and the economy."
When Mr. Bush began raising money this year, one of his first stops was New York, where he collected $4 million at an event organized in part by Mr. Paulson and Mr. Mack. On Friday, a reception is scheduled on Ellis Island at which Vice President Dick Cheney will thank more than 200 donors.
The 2004 election is still more than a year away, but employees of securities and investment firms and their political action committees have contributed $3.8 million to the Bush campaign through September, just $159,000 less than they gave during the entire campaign cycle in 2000, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks campaign finance.
The president has raised more from the industry than all nine candidates in the Democratic field combined. While Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts counts the industry as his second-largest contributor, at about $1 million through September, others have not done as well. Howard Dean, the top fund-raiser in the field, raised about $302,000, and Senator Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut raised about $639,000.
"All these guys are totally in Bush's camp," said a politically active executive, adding that "people are not hedging their bets at this point. There's not a lot of fund-raising being done for Democrats right now."
Mr. O'Neal of Merrill Lynch sent a series of letters to the homes of a few hundred of the firm's most senior executives in June, asking them to contribute to a fund-raising dinner in support of Mr. Bush. James E. Cayne, chairman and chief executive of Bear Stearns & Company, also sent a letter asking his executives to donate to the campaign.
Joseph J. Grano, who runs the brokerage operations of UBS, the Swiss bank, has been an avid backer of President Bush and the Republican convention. Mr. Grano promised to raise at least $200,000 for the re-election campaign and to gather money for the convention, said executives at the firm, formerly known as UBS PaineWebber.
Mr. Paulson, of Goldman Sachs, was recruited by Gov. George E. Pataki of New York to collect cash from the Wall Street firms to finance the convention, an official at the firm said, and has gathered $5 million so far.
Part of Mr. Bush's fund-raising success on Wall Street can be attributed to the new campaign-finance law that doubled, to $2,000, the amount an individual can give to a primary campaign. Several industries have already matched what they gave in 2000.
Mr. Bush plans to raise a record-setting $170 million for next year's race. His largest fund-raisers are grouped as Pioneers, who raise at least $100,000, and Rangers, who raise at least $200,000. An increasing number in both programs are from the financial sector.
Texans for Public Justice, a group that tracks campaign money, examined Mr. Bush's fund-raising network and which industries it represents. Its study, to be released today, shows that 20 percent now come from the financial sector, up from 14 percent in the last presidential election. The industry — defined broadly to include banks, finance companies, securities and investment firms and accounting and tax service firms — has produced at least 38 new elite fund-raisers for the Bush campaign.
Executives who have signed on include Mr. Cayne of Bear Stearns; Stephen M. Lessing, managing director at Lehman Brothers Holdings; and Henry Kravis, founding partner at Kohlberg Kravis & Roberts.
Over all, more of Mr. Bush's top fund-raisers come from the financial sector than any other, a change from the last presidential election when lawyers and lobbyists topped the list.
"The New York City financial district is doing much more than it did earlier," said Craig McDonald, executive director of Texans for Public Justice. "Wall Street has surpassed K Street." |
