Wall Street drives White House campaign cash flow

By Kevin Drawbaugh

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Eight of the 10 largest donors so far to the U.S. presidential campaigns are Wall Street banks, led by Goldman Sachs, according to research on Thursday from a political watchdog group.

Goldman and its executives have pumped $1.7 million into the races, with 70 percent going to Democrats Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, despite former CEO Henry Paulson's present job as treasury secretary for the Republican Bush administration.

The Center for Responsive Politics said that securities and investment firms altogether have donated about $33 million to presidential campaign coffers, more than any other sector of corporate America, except lawyers, the center said.

After Goldman, top-giving banks are Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch and JPMorgan Chase, which is buying troubled rival Bear Stearns in a government-engineered bailout.

As the housing market crisis spreads and the economy stumbles, traditionally Republican-leaning Wall Street banks, many hit hard by bad bets on high-risk mortgage debt, are scrambling to shore up their ties with Democrats.

Sixty percent or more of contributions coming from Citi, Morgan, Lehman, JPMorgan and UBS AG have gone to Democrats, while Republicans have been favored by donors at Merrill and Credit Suisse, the center said.

Obama, a senator from Illinois, has taken in $6.7 million from securities and investment firms, with New York Sen. Clinton not far behind at $6.6 million, the center said in a report.

Arizona Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, has collected about $3 million from Wall Street.