Wall Street money is heavily favouring Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney in the race to unseat President Barack Obama, the latest signal of business unease with Obama's tenure and perhaps a bet on his re-election chances. Romney, a co-founder of buyout firm Bain Capital, stresses his Wall Street acumen in his bid to win the Republican nomination to challenge Obama in the November 2012 election.
About a quarter of the $18 million Romney raised in the second quarter came from the financial sector, while 4.4 percent of the $48 million Obama's campaign raised came from that group, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Employees at the five biggest US banks made the list of Romney's top 20 donors, while just Goldman Sachs made it onto Obama's contributor roll. With 14 months before voters go to the polls, Obama's handling of the fledgling economic recovery is at all-time lows with unemployment stubbornly stuck above 9 percent.
Wall Street money has been moving away from Obama and Democrats since 2010, in part fuelled by Obama's harsh criticism of banks and financial overhaul legislation he signed last year, which banks say is burdensome. These latest figures confirm that trend. The data also may suggest who Wall Street thinks has the best chance of becoming elected, said Willis Sparks, who analyses elections for investors at Eurasia Group. "Wall Street is in the business of picking winners," he said. "There is some bet hedging going on right now about whether Obama can be re-elected."
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