74% of CEOs Believe Obama Would Be Disastrous for the Nation

Yesterday, I heard Mark Steyn on the Hugh Hewitt Radio Show discussing the possibility of an Obama Presidency. Steyn remarked that he thought at least part of the reason the Stock Market continues to be besieged by the Bear is investors are concerned that an Obama Presidency is almost inevitable at this point.

Although I am a contributor here at Astute Bloggers, I am a lifelong registered Democrat. So frankly, Steyn's commentary impressed me a desperate Conservative's attempt to spin the story.

I am not a Socialist Democrat, so I recognize that almost all of the blame for the current financial crisis lies at the feet of my fellow Democrats. But, Democrat that I am, Steyn's analysis registered as preposterous to me ...

at first.

But then, I thought about it more and realized our economy is certainly made up of complex and conflicting forces. All investors get their vote. And certainly, the anti-Obama vote would start coming in at this point. 

It would seem impossible to determine what percentage of the Bear Market is a direct reflection of anti-Obama concern. However, if one can measure the level of big-investor confidence in the economy by the mood of CEO's, then this goes a long way to explain the second and third wave of our current Bear-mauling:

With the nation in the middle of what is being regularly reported as the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, a new poll found that 74 percent of America's top business leaders fear "an Obama presidency would be disastrous for the country."

Don't be surprised if you didn't hear about this, for virtually no major mainstream press outlet felt it was important to share with the public.

Do you think Obama-loving media would be so apathetic if this poll found an overwhelming majority of business leaders were scared about what a McCain presidency would do to the economy?

Despite the answer, our supposedly impartial press seem totally disinterested in Chief Executive magazine's just-released survey [1] which found some CEOs worried that if implemented "[Obama's] programs would bankrupt the country within three years" (emphasis added, h/t Jazz from Hell [2], photo courtesy Time.com):

Chief Executive magazine’s most recent polling of 751 CEOs shows that GOP presidential candidate John McCain is the preferred choice for CEOs.  According to the poll, which is featured on the cover of Chief Executive’s most recent issue, by a four-to-one margin, CEOs support Senator John McCain over Senator Barack Obama.  Moreover, 74 percent of the executives say they fear that an Obama presidency would be disastrous for the country. 

“The stakes for this presidential election are higher than they’ve ever been in recent memory,” said Edward M. Kopko, CEO and Publisher of Chief Executive magazine. “We’ve been experiencing consecutive job losses for nine months now. There’s no doubt that reviving the job market will be a top priority for the incoming president. And job creating CEOs repeatedly tell us that McCain’s policies are far more conducive to a more positive employment environment than Obama’s.” [...]

“I’m not terribly excited about McCain being president, but I’m sure that Obama, if elected, will have a negative impact on business and the economy,” said one CEO voicing his lack of enthusiasm for either candidate, but particularly Obama. 

In expressing their rejection of Senator Obama, some CEOs who responded to the survey went as far as to say that “some of his programs would bankrupt the country within three years, if implemented.”  In fact, the poll highlights that Obama’s tax policies, which scored the lowest grade in the poll, are particularly unpopular among CEOs.