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Wall Street Donors Flocking to Clinton
Democratic frontrunner has seen a surge in financial sector donations since business-friendly Republican candidates have dropped out of the race.
May 09, 2016
Now that Donald Trump has secured his position as the presumptive Republican nominee, Wall Street donors are fleeing the party and throwing their support behind Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton.
A Wall Street Journal analysis published late Sunday found that the former secretary of state "has raised $4.2 million in total from Wall Street, $344,000 of which was contributed in March alone."
In fact, Clinton has seen a surge in financial sector donations since business-friendly Republican candidates--namely former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio--dropped out of the race. According to the newspaper's reporting on fundraising data provided by the Center for Responsive Politics, "the former secretary of state received 53 percent of the donations from Wall Street in March, up from 32 percent last year and 33 percent in January through February, as the nominating contests began."
WSJ notes that "Trump, by contrast, hasn't garnered more than 1 percent of Wall Street contributions in any month through March," although the New York billionaire is expected to be much more active in soliciting donations for the general election.
The report further cites an analysis by the nonpartisan crowdfunding resource Crowdpac, which found that "more than 500 donors, including many Wall Street executives, who gave more than $200 to a Republican who later dropped out, including Messrs. Bush and Rubio, have since given to Mrs. Clinton," WSJ wrote.
In total, Clinton has received a full third of all money that business interests have donated to presidential campaigns on both sides of the aisle.
The numbers represent a significant shift from the conventional wisdom that the GOP is beholden to big business while Democrats are supposed to represent the concerns of the people.
Politico reported last week that Clinton supporters have been aggressively courting top Bush family donors "to try to convince them that she represents their values better than Donald Trump." Those fundraising calls are part of an overall effort by the campaign to position Clinton as the standard bearer of neoconservative ideals.
In response to the Politico report, Bernie Sanders' campaign manager Jeff Weaver sent an email to supporters on Saturday chiding Clinton for soliciting those funds, writing: "you cannot change a corrupt system by taking its money."
Indeed, as Republican lobbyist Ed Rogers told the WSJ, "Business interests are generally not sold on the notion that Trump will be a more business-friendly candidate; there's a lot about Trump they don't know," such as his positions on regulation and trade policy.
"They know Hillary," Rogers added. "And they know that she is not antibusiness."
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Lauren McCauley is a former senior editor for Common Dreams covering national and international politics and progressive news. She is now the Editor of Maine Morning Star. Lauren also helped produce a number of documentary films, including the award-winning Soundtrack for a Revolution and The Hollywood Complex, as well as one currently in production about civil rights icon James Meredith. Her writing has been featured on Newsweek, BillMoyers.com, TruthDig, Truthout, In These Times, and Extra! the newsletter of Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting. She currently lives in Kennebunk, Maine with her husband, two children, a dog, and several chickens.
Now that Donald Trump has secured his position as the presumptive Republican nominee, Wall Street donors are fleeing the party and throwing their support behind Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton.
A Wall Street Journal analysis published late Sunday found that the former secretary of state "has raised $4.2 million in total from Wall Street, $344,000 of which was contributed in March alone."
In fact, Clinton has seen a surge in financial sector donations since business-friendly Republican candidates--namely former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio--dropped out of the race. According to the newspaper's reporting on fundraising data provided by the Center for Responsive Politics, "the former secretary of state received 53 percent of the donations from Wall Street in March, up from 32 percent last year and 33 percent in January through February, as the nominating contests began."
WSJ notes that "Trump, by contrast, hasn't garnered more than 1 percent of Wall Street contributions in any month through March," although the New York billionaire is expected to be much more active in soliciting donations for the general election.
The report further cites an analysis by the nonpartisan crowdfunding resource Crowdpac, which found that "more than 500 donors, including many Wall Street executives, who gave more than $200 to a Republican who later dropped out, including Messrs. Bush and Rubio, have since given to Mrs. Clinton," WSJ wrote.
In total, Clinton has received a full third of all money that business interests have donated to presidential campaigns on both sides of the aisle.
The numbers represent a significant shift from the conventional wisdom that the GOP is beholden to big business while Democrats are supposed to represent the concerns of the people.
Politico reported last week that Clinton supporters have been aggressively courting top Bush family donors "to try to convince them that she represents their values better than Donald Trump." Those fundraising calls are part of an overall effort by the campaign to position Clinton as the standard bearer of neoconservative ideals.
In response to the Politico report, Bernie Sanders' campaign manager Jeff Weaver sent an email to supporters on Saturday chiding Clinton for soliciting those funds, writing: "you cannot change a corrupt system by taking its money."
Indeed, as Republican lobbyist Ed Rogers told the WSJ, "Business interests are generally not sold on the notion that Trump will be a more business-friendly candidate; there's a lot about Trump they don't know," such as his positions on regulation and trade policy.
"They know Hillary," Rogers added. "And they know that she is not antibusiness."
Lauren McCauley
Lauren McCauley is a former senior editor for Common Dreams covering national and international politics and progressive news. She is now the Editor of Maine Morning Star. Lauren also helped produce a number of documentary films, including the award-winning Soundtrack for a Revolution and The Hollywood Complex, as well as one currently in production about civil rights icon James Meredith. Her writing has been featured on Newsweek, BillMoyers.com, TruthDig, Truthout, In These Times, and Extra! the newsletter of Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting. She currently lives in Kennebunk, Maine with her husband, two children, a dog, and several chickens.
Now that Donald Trump has secured his position as the presumptive Republican nominee, Wall Street donors are fleeing the party and throwing their support behind Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton.
A Wall Street Journal analysis published late Sunday found that the former secretary of state "has raised $4.2 million in total from Wall Street, $344,000 of which was contributed in March alone."
In fact, Clinton has seen a surge in financial sector donations since business-friendly Republican candidates--namely former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio--dropped out of the race. According to the newspaper's reporting on fundraising data provided by the Center for Responsive Politics, "the former secretary of state received 53 percent of the donations from Wall Street in March, up from 32 percent last year and 33 percent in January through February, as the nominating contests began."
WSJ notes that "Trump, by contrast, hasn't garnered more than 1 percent of Wall Street contributions in any month through March," although the New York billionaire is expected to be much more active in soliciting donations for the general election.
The report further cites an analysis by the nonpartisan crowdfunding resource Crowdpac, which found that "more than 500 donors, including many Wall Street executives, who gave more than $200 to a Republican who later dropped out, including Messrs. Bush and Rubio, have since given to Mrs. Clinton," WSJ wrote.
In total, Clinton has received a full third of all money that business interests have donated to presidential campaigns on both sides of the aisle.
The numbers represent a significant shift from the conventional wisdom that the GOP is beholden to big business while Democrats are supposed to represent the concerns of the people.
Politico reported last week that Clinton supporters have been aggressively courting top Bush family donors "to try to convince them that she represents their values better than Donald Trump." Those fundraising calls are part of an overall effort by the campaign to position Clinton as the standard bearer of neoconservative ideals.
In response to the Politico report, Bernie Sanders' campaign manager Jeff Weaver sent an email to supporters on Saturday chiding Clinton for soliciting those funds, writing: "you cannot change a corrupt system by taking its money."
Indeed, as Republican lobbyist Ed Rogers told the WSJ, "Business interests are generally not sold on the notion that Trump will be a more business-friendly candidate; there's a lot about Trump they don't know," such as his positions on regulation and trade policy.
"They know Hillary," Rogers added. "And they know that she is not antibusiness."
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