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Not surprisingly, insider names often bantered about in the business pages like Quadrangle's Steven Rattner, an Obama supporter, or Merrill Lynch & Co. CEO John Thain, a McCain supporter, didn't come up. Only two names were mentioned. Both candidates referred to billionaire investor Warren Buffett, and McCain highlighted retired eBay Inc. CEO Meg Whitman. Buffett is a supporter of Obama, Whitman of McCain. Why is the Oracle of Omaha on everyone's mind? Well, McCain nailed it when he talked about the importance of trustworthiness. Both candidates seem keenly aware of the credibility issue Paulson is facing. His cred was already flagging when he waded into the bailout plan talks with Congress; now it's evaporated. Meanwhile, Buffett is out there pumping in capital -- for a nice return, of course -- into Goldman, Sachs & Co. and General Electric Co. Buffett is clearly trusted not just by both candidates but by the populace. Throughout his decades of investing, Buffett has developed a tremendous following that would be a cult if it wasn't so large. It helps that he has a remarkable track record managing Berkshire Hathaway Inc.'s $44 billion empire, which in political terms translates into managing the $700 billion bailout. Does it matter that Buffett seems to have no political ambitions, and no interest in leaving the good life in Omaha for the snakepit of Washington? Does it matter that being the world's greatest investor might not translate into running Treasury? Nah. It's politics. And you did get a sense that Buffett was a name that simply popped into McCain's head when the question was posed. As for the other name, Whitman, McCain offered some credentials for his campaign's co-chair. Whitman managed eBay from 1998 (shortly after its IPO) to 2008. In that decade she oversaw most of the company's growth including the successful purchase of PayPal, and the not-so-successful purchase of Skype. Her leading credential, noted McCain, is her track record creating jobs. However, is that the role of a treasury secretary? Wouldn't that make her an ideal labor secretary instead? However, some of the names floated in the media, Federal Reserve Governor Timothy Geithner, former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers and Laura D'Andrea Tyson, a University of California business school dean, do fit that bill. Of course, would they have the trustworthiness of the American public?
So why weren't these candidates discussed Tuesday night? Well, when politicians are talking on a stage to a TV audience, referring to an oracle sounds better than talking about an egghead. - Matthew Wurtzel See earlier story about possible treasury secretaries from Dealscape Matthew Wurtzel is the editor of Dealscape. CategoriesComments
From: sloane,
I think Buffett would do a great job in this position, but I doubt he would take it if it were offered to him. He's not used to being employed/working for someone else..and I don't think he's masochistic enough to go from being completely independent and self-directing to being one part of a huge bureaucracy, where even ideas that don't meet with opposition are very, very slow to be adopted and implemented. Dr. Tantillo, who has a marketing blog , did a post a little over a week ago on Buffett (in a winner/loser post that contrasted him with WaMu). Dr. Tantillo blogs from a branding perspective, and posits that any company must stay true to its brand's 'core features' to succeed. I think that working for someone else is not part of Buffett's brand....
Posted on:
October 9, 2008 12:14 PM
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As expected, the economy took center stage during Tuesday's
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How about McCain's comments about buying mortgages? They sounded like comments made by William Ackman. Maybe McCain should make Ackman Treasury Secretary.