July 9, 2010

David Gergen makes Karoli's point from the other day about big business and how they treat a Democratic President. Even after all of the deference shown by President Obama to Wall Street and the big monied interests in America it's still not enough to suit them and they're sitting on their cash instead of investing it.

BLITZER: His mind never stops as I personally noticed when I interviewed him in Cape Town, South Africa, not that long ago. Let's talk a little bit about the related subject, the need for money and the charm offensive going on right now by the president to try to woo back some of his big supporters from Wall Street.

GERGEN: On this one, wolf, I have to tell you, that I think the president's got a big high hill to climb because relations between the big business community, not small business, but big business community and the White House have become quite hostile. Traveling around the country I've been surprised even in the Chicago business leadership community, where the president got so much of his early support as a senator, they -- there are a lot of people there who have soured.

They feel, as Jeff Immelt of GE put it in Italy a few days ago, it appears the Obama administration doesn't like us, and we don't like them, and that -- and entrepreneurs and government are out of sync.

I have to tell you, Wolf, I think that among business people at least, what one hears increasingly is we're not investing as much money as we might because we're not sure whether people in Washington are going to go after us.

You know, we're uncertainty what the climate, is and there's a lot of money sitting on the sidelines that's a little uncertain where rules and regulations and laws are going next.

BLIZTER: It's a major initiative the president has now to try to get some of those big business supporters he had, the Democrats had, in 2008, back on board, because a lot of them are very nervous right now. All right. You make a good point. David, thank you.

GERGEN: Thank you.

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