There'll be a crush of cameras at the front door of the White House on January 20 as scores of media outlets scramble to record the moment that the new president walks in. But, wait--who're those people who'll be sliding in quietly behind him? They're the ones who'll spend the next four years whispering in the president's ear, sitting in strategy sessions, running presidential councils, filling agency slots, and pulling the levers of executive power.
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AN EXCLUSIVE PRIMARY
The top presidential candidates of both political parties are meeting with voters in a key primary, promising to help them on the issues they care about.
Are they in Iowa? No. New Hampshire? Uh-uh. California? Nowhere near it. So, where?
Wall Street.
While regular citizens won't start voting for the presidential contenders until next January, an intensive, closed-door primary has already been taking place inside the confines of investment banks, hedge funds, and other financial institutions in Manhattan. It's strictly a private campaign--albeit with enormous public impact.
Bear Stearns, for example, summoned seven major candidates, including Romney, Clinton, Giuliani, Obama, and Thompson, to its midtown headquarters for exclusive presentations and Q&A sessions with its managing partners.
Business Week magazine reports that these Wall Street barons want to measure the candidates' ability to "make smart decisions in times of uncertainty, a trait bankers and traders prize in themselves."
Wait a minute! Aren't these the same people who brought us Enron, NAFTA, offshoring, exorbitant credit card fees, oil dependency, pension collapses, and other "smart decisions"? Indeed, isn't Bear Stearns itself buttdeep in the ongoing subprime mortgage disaster? Why should anyone listen to them?