But Wall Street money has proved to be a double-edged sword for Democrats, as Hillary Clinton discovered when she was hounded four years ago for delivering private speeches to Goldman Sachs and other firms. Asked about Wall Street’s role in Mr. Biden’s current bid, the campaign invoked Mr. Biden’s refrain that America wasn’t built by Wall Street bankers, C.E.O.s and hedge fund managers. Marc Lasry, the co-founder of Avenue Capital, for example, held a fund-raiser for Mr. Biden during his first run for president in 1988, and continues to back him now. It doesn’t hurt that Mr. Biden has also not crusaded against Wall Street, the way his primary rivals Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders did. “Rich people are just as patriotic as poor people,” Mr. Biden told donors at a fund-raiser at the Carlyle Hotel in Manhattan last year.

Source: New York Times August 09, 2020 09:00 UTC