You might think that Wall Street is dominated by conservatives bent on unfettered markets, but there are plenty of Democrats (Democrats news) around--old-style New York liberals who have fared well in the industry. The real political game on Wall Street is opportunism. It wants to pick the political winners, and it bets and hedges as necessary. As of now, another shift seems to be underway, this time away from the Democrats.

The Washington Post says the securities (securities industry news) and investment industry "went from giving 2 to 1 to Democrats at the start of 2009 to providing almost half of its donations to Republicans by the end of the year." Also, commercial banks (commercial banks news) gave nearly twice as much to Republicans in the fourth quarter of 2009. This is not all that surprising given the harsh rhetoric form the Democrats. But the rhetoric from some elements on the Republican side will be just as harsh. This is best seen as a bet on the eventual victor. We'll see if this shift proves a reliable leading political indicator. 

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