(Bloomberg Politics) — It may sound absurd that a super-rich real estate mogul who peddles opulence is enticing voters who are fed up with the finance community.
And yet a new Bloomberg Politics/Des Moines Register Iowa Poll reveals that a whopping 65 percent of Republican front-runner Donald Trump's supporters say they're "unsatisfied" or "mad as hell" at Wall Street.
Overall, the poll exposed bipartisan disgust among those planning to attend Iowa's presidential caucuses in February with those who invest in business or politics: 64 percent of those planning to attend a Democratic caucus voiced dissatisfaction with Wall Street, but in the stereotypically more business-friendly Republican party, the figure was an almost equally high 62 percent. Among likely Democratic caucus-goers, 94 percent rated themselves unsatisfied or "mad as hell" about the amount of money in politics. For Republicans, the figure was 91 percent.
So why are people upset with the monied elites backing a candidate who brags about how rich he is?
Trump's position of strength with these voters may be partly a product of rhetorical attacks on the financial industry blared through his celebrity megaphone. But it's also due to a series of unorthodox policy views that are uniquely tenable for a self-funded billionaire candidate who isn't relying on wealthy donors to stay afloat in the race.
The exuberant capitalist has echoed socialist Senator Bernie Sanders, who's seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, in painting his rivals as beholden to campaign contributors. "Jeb Bush is a puppet to his donors," Trump told a crowd at the Iowa State Fair mid-August. The billionaire, who has vowed to fund his own campaign, is probably the only Republican candidate who can afford to alienate the party's financiers.
