Looking for Swing Votes in the Boardroom
Aug 17th, 2008 | By David Harper | Category: Election 2008The New York Times: The guests who sat down for lunch with Senator Barack Obama at the Fairmont Chicago hotel in June weren’t his usual audience. It was also a closed-door affair — no crowds, no reporters, no oratory — and instead of speaking, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee mostly listened. But the nine men and two women dining with him were leaders of companies like Ford, JPMorgan Chase, Aetna and Duke Energy and were used to doing the talking anyway.
For Mr. Obama, the three-hour session marked the beginning of his campaign’s plan to win over big business, a coterie usually associated with Republicans, not Democrats. Two weeks earlier, it had been Senator John McCain’s turn to woo the business world.