NEW YORK — When it comes to business, everyone on Wall Street wants a piece of Warren Buffett. His presidential politics, however, appear to be another matter altogether.
On Friday evening, the Omaha investor was the host of a fundraiser for President Barack Obama at the Four Seasons restaurant in Manhattan. Democrats had bet that the star power of one of the world's richest men would draw an overflow crowd of Wall Street's elite for an affair that ran $10,000 a plate.
The event — which included on the menu some of Buffett's favorites, like Cherry Coke and Dairy Queen ice cream — was considered a sell-out success by the Obama campaign. It easily raised more than $1.5 million for the campaign and the Democratic National Committee.
Yet organizers had trouble drawing the biggest guns of finance. The president's campaign reserved space for 130 guests but only 116 (including Democratic staff members) attended, according to people with knowledge of the matter. And there were few marquee names on the guest list.
The turnout reflected Obama's broader struggles in attracting big-name support from those on Wall Street, whom he referred to as "fat cat bankers" in 2009. One person who attended described the atmosphere as subdued and said the event seemed to attract more Buffett followers than Obama supporters.
As others in business have moved to distance themselves from Obama, Buffett has found himself in a lonely role as the president's ambassador among the moneyed set. He is endorsing not just Obama but also a policy like the "Buffett rule," which would increase taxes on the rich, as well as the view that America is exiting, not re-entering, a recession.
"I have always had people disagree with me on politics," Buffett said in an interview. "You can go through life and just basically opt out of that field. I don't blame anyone particularly but I don't want to do that. If I have views I will talk about them."
Buffett said he first met Obama roughly six years ago, at a lunch arranged by the billionaire's daughter, Susie. The pair broke bread at Kiewit Plaza in Omaha, where Buffett's company, Berkshire Hathaway, is based. At the time, Obama was only months into his freshman term in the Senate.
Buffett spotted a rising star, prophetically telling the Chicago Tribune in 2005 that Obama "has as much potential as anyone I've seen to have an important impact over his lifetime on the course that America takes."
As president, Obama has been known to tap Buffett for advice on the economy. This summer, the president called Buffett from his vacation on Martha's Vineyard to discuss ways to spur the economy. And after Buffett wrote an op-ed article for the New York Times, saying that politicians should stop "coddling" the "mega-rich," the White House introduced plans to raise taxes for the wealthy.
Still, Buffett cautions against reading too much into the relationship. "We are not at all close," he said. He estimates he has talked to Obama one-on-one just a handful of times, and no call has lasted more than about eight minutes. Buffett does not remember ever making a call to Obama. And Buffett does not personally solicit donations for the re-election campaign.
Buffett did agree to headline two fundraisers for the president. The next one is scheduled for late October at the Chicago-area home of Byron Trott, a former Goldman Sachs executive known as "Buffett's favorite banker."
The fundraisers are the Obama campaign's latest efforts to restore the president's relationship with Wall Street — once a heavy-hitting donor base. The president counts several bankers among his friends and fundraisers, including Robert Wolf, president of UBS's investment bank.
But the campaign has received a tepid response from other deep-pocketed donors on Wall Street, some of whom have shunned the president's push for regulation and his talk about lavish bonuses. The nation's biggest banks, which cut many large checks for Obama's 2008 run, are mainly on the sidelines for now.
"In the last election, people were tripping over themselves to get on the Obama bandwagon," said Michael J. Driscoll, a former senior trader at the Wall Street firm Bear Stearns who now teaches at Adelphi University. "Things have changed; Wall Street is not happy being under attack by the administration."
Buffett said he was not surprised that Wall Street's sentiment had shifted so much against the president. "People need to face up to the country's problems. Once what you start pointing and explaining what your part is in it, you start losing a few people," he said, laughing.
Still, he believes Obama will win the next election, and may even get some help from an improving economy, an idea that goes against the view of many.
"We are coming out of this one, I am virtually certain," Buffett said. "I see figures on 70-some companies daily. I have a lot of information coming in and basically everything to do with home construction is as bad as it has ever been, and everything else is getting better."
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