Obama's Wall Street Donors Want Change

Many bankers, traders and other finance types believe they've made enough money and aren't interested in policies that give them more (McCain). They're more interested in the Obama's platform of change. As an industry, they've given more to Obama than McCain.

Swamp: "Not all Republicans ``are opening their wallets to a McCain presidential run,'' Mallory Factor, a banker who co-hosts a weekly meeting of conservatives in New York and raised more than $1 million for Bush and his party four years ago, told Bloomberg.

"Some Republicans who ``support certain principles'' are shunning McCain, Factor said, citing the Arizona senator's initial opposition to Bush's tax cuts and his authorship of a campaign-finance law opposed by many in his party.

"Disdain for McCain is combined with enthusiasm for Obama in some quarters,'' Salant adds. "Many of the brokers, bankers and traders in the securities industry, who contributed $9.2 million to Bush and $4.8 million to Kerry four years ago, are now Obama supporters, motivated by issues such as the Illinois senator's opposition to the Iraq War. Obama has received $8.9 million and McCain $6.3 million from the industry from Jan. 1, 2007 through June 30 of this year, according to the center.

``Many people on Wall Street believed they had made enough money in life and were more concerned about the war and the generational effect that Obama brings to this election,'' Richard Hunt, a Washington-based lobbyist for the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, which represents Goldman Sachs Group and Merrill Lynch & Co, told Bloomberg. Employees of New York-based Goldman Sachs, the biggest U.S. securities firm, were Obama's top donors among all firms through June. McCain's top backers work at New York-based Merrill Lynch.