Will Wall Street's financial support win Mitt Romney the presidency?

Wall Streeters are mad at President Obama over everything from financial reform to the president's demand for higher taxes on the wealthy. How mad? Financial sector donors have given more than seven times as much money to Mitt Romney and the super PAC supporting his campaign than they've given to Team Obama, according to Politico. Romney holds a financial-sector fundraising lead of $37.1 million to $4.8 million, and no fewer than 19 big-ticket Wall Street donors who backed Obama in 2008 have abandoned him to shovel nearly $5 million into Romney's war chest. How damaging is this for Obama?

This really hurts Obama: The "monied and powerful" aren't just disillusioned with Obama, says Christian Heinze at The Hill. "They're actually getting out of the marriage and shacking up with Romney." Sure, "in terms of raw votes, it's not that significant." But the cash these Wall Street types throw around comes in awfully handy in producing raw votes, so this is going to hurt Obama — a lot.

"Romney routs Obama on Wall Street"

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In some ways, this just validates Obama's message: There's a silver lining here, says Jeremy B. White at International Business Times. The president has been working hard to portray himself as a champion of economic fairness, and "Romney as an affluent, out-of-touch candidate whose policies would disproportionately benefit the wealthiest Americans." The news that Wall Street's mega-rich are showering Romney with cash sure seems "to bolster that narrative."

"Romney trouncing Obama in Wall Street money, but president may come back"

Either way, this is payback for Obama's class warfare: It's hardly surprising that Obama's "eat-the-rich" rhetoric is costing him friends, and donations, on Wall Street, says Ed Morrissey at Hot Air. The president "won the Wall Street sweepstakes" in 2008 because hedge fund managers believed his promise of Hope and Change, imagining they were getting another moderate Democrat like Bill Clinton. Now that they know better, investors are "looking for someone who really knows what he's doing on economic policy."

"Targets of Obama’s populist rhetoric oddly enthusiastic for his opponent"

Read more political coverage at The Week's 2012 Election Center.