Hightower Lowdown

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?