There are few, if any, places in America where the candidate Bernie Sanders is more openly reviled than on Wall Street.
Almost everything about the social Democrat’s platform -- like his proposals to tax transactions, capital gains and “extreme wealth” -- is anathema to the creed of the well-heeled financial set. And yet it turns out that some of the capitalists he rails against quietly like him.
About $1.70 of every $100 he raised through last year came from the finance, insurance and real estate industries. What’s more, talk to these donors and they usually say the same thing: There are scores of other liberals in their ranks who secretly share a devotion to his cause. More now, they note, than in 2016, when the Vermont senator took his first run at the Democratic nomination.
They insist this is a sign that his once-fringe views are gaining acceptance in the broader populace, something they see in his surge in polls in states including Iowa, where the battle for delegates starts today.
Whether the ranks of Bernie acolytes are actually growing on Wall Street is, of course, very hard to determine. Most bankers and brokers who support him are hesitant to talk at all, and those who do usually ask not to be named.
And then there’s Wade Black, chief operating officer of New York broker-dealer Scarsdale Equities, who said he’s trying hard to temper his pro-Bernie enthusiasm to persuade others in a more measured way.
“The attitude has changed,” said Black, who has donated hundreds of dollars toward getting Sanders elected president. “Dyed-in-the-wool, pinstripe and monocle-wearing Wall Streeters have realized there is something fundamentally broken in the economy, particularly in health care, that can’t be fixed by the market.”
The ‘Pitchforks’
To be clear, the prospect that Sanders might pull ahead in Iowa’s caucus worries many -- if not most -- in the financial industry. He lashed out at JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon on Twitter and in a campaign ad last month after the banker criticized socialism in an op-ed.
Analysts have taken turns in recent weeks warning stocks may slide if the candidate gains momentum. Billionaire money manager Jeffrey Gundlach went even further, saying this year’s biggest risk to markets would be Sanders “becoming more believed-in.” Some in the financial world are concerned about the aggressive tone of some of his supporters.