The Politico explains in a 3 page article and below are some specific paragraphs that caught my eye.
Page #1:
Things are different now. While most Democrats blame the economy and anger from Wall Street for the fundraising predicament, President Obama, whose own donor model was low-dollar contributors and internet contributors over high-dollar types, has headlined just one major New York event so far this year, for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
SNIP
Some Democrats called it the worst period for fundraising they've experienced in the New York area since 1994, the infamous midterm cycle after Bill Clinton was elected president but quickly became a lightning rod for Republicans and a disappointment to some of his own backers.
"Clearly, it's an extremely difficult environment out there," said one Democrat sympathetic to the White House, who, like nearly every Democrat interviewed, asked not to be identified.
SNIP
Still, top GOP officials, including Mississippi Gov. and Republican Governors Association chief Haley Barbour continue to aggressively work the New York finance base. Sen. John Cornyn, of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, has been in New York roughly every six weeks, and is a familiar face at the Regency Hotel power-breakfast circuit on Park Avenue.
Page #2:
"We are either getting them to contribute to [Republicans] on the basis that we need some checks and balances in Washington D.C.," he said, or "there's a lot of people who just seem to be not contributing to Democrats."
Certainly the big checks aren't coming in major waves anymore from New York's Democrats, by all accounts, and those who are writing the smaller ones are making people earn their take.
"Donors are making candidates work for the donations, and they're coming in $1,000 checks, not $25,000 checks," said one source involved in fundraising, adding it's a trend seen nationwide.
SNIP
Democrats with money to give will "take a meeting now (with GOP candidates)," said another New York Democrat, who said contributers are paying much more attention to data points like voting records. "They're looking for people who will listen to them. They're looking for options."
One indicator that some of what one longtime New York Republican operative referred to as the city's "marginal" cash is up for grabs was the seven-candidate fundraiser hosted by hedge fund founder Paul Singer in New York last week.
The event reportedly raised well over $1 million for a handful of GOP Senate hopefuls—a staggering amount that surprised several Democratic fundraisers—and which included some donors who are typically Democratic givers.
Page #3:
"Every interest group is angry" at either Congress or the White House, said one New York Democratic insider involved with fundraising.
That has included a smattering of Jewish Democratic fundraisers, the sources said, who are unhappy with the administration's approach to Israel and with some members of the state’s congressional delegation as well.
SNIP
Dan Senor, a former Bush administration official in Iraq who's active in the Jewish political community as well as Republican fundraising circles, said an event he co-hosted last week for six New York House hopefuls included some Democratic donors.
"There were people who said, 'I've never written a check to a Republican in my life' who where there," he said, although he declined to name names. He also noted that he's hearing from some Jewish Democratic donors who "are either sitting on their hands, or giving to Republicans."
What surprises me the most here is that anyone would be surprised.
Barack Obama and the Democrats have made it their public mission to declare war against Wall Street, big business and the rich and to expect to continue biting the hands that have fed you and think they will continue to feed you is naive at best and sheer stupidity at worst.
It isn't only Democrats losing donations from those who they used to rely on, the war Democrats have waged against big business have stopped business leaders from pouring money they have accumulated back into the economy.
Fareed Zakaria, via Wapo, asked some of those business leaders why that is:
But in addition to economics, they kept talking about politics, about the uncertainty surrounding regulations and taxes. Some have even begun to speak out publicly. Jeffrey Immelt, chief executive of General Electric, complained Friday that government was not in sync with entrepreneurs. The Business Roundtable, which had supported the Obama administration, has begun to complain about the myriad laws and regulations being cooked up in Washington.
One CEO told me, "Almost every agency we deal with has announced some expansion of its authority, which naturally makes me concerned about what's in store for us for the future." Another pointed out that between the health-care bill, financial reform and possibly cap-and-trade, his company had lawyers working day and night to figure out the implications of all these new regulations....
The bottom line, is even those that supported Barack Obama in 2008, are worried:
Most of the business leaders I spoke to had voted for Barack Obama. They still admire him. Those who had met him thought he was unusually smart. But all think he is, at his core, anti-business. When I asked for specifics, they pointed to the fact that Obama has no business executives in his Cabinet, that he rarely consults with CEOs (except for photo ops), that he has almost no private-sector experience, that he's made clear he thinks government and nonprofit work are superior to the private sector. It all added up to a profound sense of distrust.
Some of this is a product of chance. The economic crisis forced the government to expand its authority in dozens of areas, from finance to automobiles. But precisely because of these circumstances, Obama needs to outline a growth and competitiveness agenda that is compelling to the business community. This might sound like psychology more than economics, and the populist left will surely scream that the last thing we need to do is pander to business. But the first thing we need is for these people to start spending their money -- soon. As a leading New York businessman who publicly supported Obama during the campaign told me, "their perception is our reality."
Democrats and Barack Obama have forgotten one very important fact of life as they started their class warfare campaigns.
Money makes the world go round and if you attack those that make it, they may decide to stop spending it or donating it.
.
