FORTUNE cover story: Business Loves Hillary: Who business is betting on

[DeepModem Mom]

Who business is betting on
In a wide-open race, candidates are scrambling to get CEO endorsements. Our exclusive Fortune survey goes behind the scenes from Wall Street to Silicon Valley to find surprising alliances and discover how they were forged.
By Nina Easton, Fortune Washington bureau chief
June 25 2007



....Multiply that effort (Hillary Clinton's successful bid for the support of Morgan Stanley CEO John Mack) many times over, and you can understand why the safe to swim signs are sprouting up all over Clinton Inc. Yet she is not the only Democrat to achieve surprising success in a realm traditionally taken for granted by Republicans. Her leading Democratic opponent, Barack Obama, has made forays into Wall Street and Hollywood to nab business support. He, too, has found admirers among top Republicans, most notably John Canning Jr., CEO of Chicago private-equity firm Madison Dearborn (see First). For their part, top GOP candidates like Rudy Giuliani, John McCain, and Mitt Romney have lined up a small army of pinstriped pitchmen. But what's different this time is that CEOs are up for grabs on both sides. A Fortune survey of where business leaders are lining up in the 2008 race, based on dozens of interviews with top executives, reveals a concerted push by Democratic candidates to secure the blessing of big business while they continue to take their swipes at corporate America on behalf of the little guy. Even at this early stage of the primary race, the business endorsements of Clinton alone rival - in size, scope, and prestige the list of CEOs publicly supporting the Kerry - Edwards ticket in the 2004 general election. The more than 150 top executives who have raised money for Clinton represent such brand names as Anheuser-Busch, Comcast, Estée Lauder, Palm, Sun Microsystems, and Qualcomm. Venture capitalist James D. Robinson III, the former CEO of American Express and a longtime Republican, told Fortune he now supports Clinton for President, citing her "breadth of experience, especially on the international level, which is critical for going forward."

A difficult war tests loyalties among business leaders, just as it does among other voters, who increasingly identify themselves as Democrats. But Iraq is only one factor behind this year's wide-open race for business support. With the scandals of the early part of the decade behind them, corporate leaders are once again emerging as opinion leaders - not only speaking out on such issues as health care, taxes, and the environment, but calling for government action. "This has been an important period for businesses of all sizes," Clinton told Fortune. "They really can't control health-care costs." And Clinton's Senate tenure has been a significant antidote to her controversial stint as a First Lady proposing health-care reform, which critics decried as an attempt to nationalize medicine. "There has been a real opportunity to know me and work with me," she says, "and to develop personal friendships."

Not to be discounted is that corporate America likes to bet on winners. Coming on the heels of the Democratic takeover of Congress, the party has a real shot at winning the White House. For Republican candidates, a sour political environment is only the beginning of the battle. With several strong candidates and no clear front-runner, a business community that largely united behind George W. Bush in 2000 and 2004 is now more fractured, with most major Bush donors still sitting on the sidelines. "Even in 2000, Bush was the presumptive nominee," notes longtime GOP fundraiser and Thayer Capital chairman Fred Malek. "Signing up with Bush was a no-brainer."
Business leaders can provide added heft to a candidate's fundraising efforts - the major candidates are expected to raise a record $1.4 billion in this race - but they also help a candidate's image branding. Democrat John Edwards, who offers sharp-edged populism, is a tougher sell to business. But Clinton and Obama view CEO support as a key part of their crossover appeal. A roster of business endorsements "says to voters that you'll be strong on the economy," says Clinton campaign chair Terry McAuliffe. Most of the top-tier candidates - Republican and Democrat have made pilgrimages to the Business Roundtable's offices in Washington to pitch some 60 CEOs at a time....

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2007/07/09/100121742/index.htm?postversion=2007062509

[IndyOp]

1. Yep. Hillary is ALL for business. She'll save the insurance companies

and funnel billions of dollars right into their wide open pockets.

Cross-over appeal?

Cross-over from what - U.S. mega-corporations to Multi-national mega-corporations?

:(

[whistle]

2. The right wing conspiracy cabal are shuddering in their crocs and socks

....at that photo I'm sure! Hillary puts the fear of Aken* in these malcontents.

<snip>
*Aken also called Kherty

Aken was a god from Letopolis, capital of province #2 in the south part of Lower Egypt. During the night he was the ferryman on the boat of Re called Meseket and took the newly dead over the river to the land beyond called Amenty and ”the land in the West” among other names.

His most common appearance was as a man with the head of a ram. He stood by the steering oar and took care of this very last and most important journey for the Egyptians. He was also called Kherty (Cherty), meaning "the one who is subservient" (to Osiris) the god of the Dead, who let the persons pass along to the next life after being trailed in the Court of the Underworld. In the picture to the left, the deceased stands at the front in a white dress praying to get ashore at the best part of the next life. The options were two and could be the general area called Duat for ordinary people, and not so good to come to, or Aaru which was more hospitable and reserved for those who had been extra good to the gods during their life.

http://www.nemo.nu/ibisportal/0egyptintro/1egypt/index.htm

[MGKrebs]

3. "corporate America likes to bet on winners."

Probably the whole thing in a nutshell. They will try to exert influence if they can, but no matter what, they do not want to be the enemy of whoever is pulling the strings if they can help it.

Corporations are necessary for the foreseeable future. Progressives can't just oppose "corporations" for some vague and dubious principle and expect to actually make lives better. If a corporation is doing bad things, let's pressure them, but expecting candidates, who must represent all citizens as well as corporations, to lead a revolution is passing the buck. WE have to lead that revolution, and any leaders we are looking for are not going to come from within the current "system" (except for possibly Howard Dean).

[Cadwallader]

4. Since this is today's topic, will this kick up?

just curious

[DeepModem Mom]

5. LOL! It did kick up, Cadwallader, but a different photo must have been substituted --

This photo appears to be a photo of Huckabee and family before his weight loss!