Do Good Businessmen Make Good Presidents?

There's nothing journalists like better than a good rifle through the detailed finances of politicians. Since anyone running for federal office must file personal financial disclosures with the Federal Elections Commission, reporters are lucky enough to get that opportunity handed to them during the presidential race.

Which gory details matters and which do not? The New York Times has already zeroed in on the first disclosures of the 2008 presidential campaign, released this week by the F.E.C.

The Times focuses on the $30 million men on each side of the aisle: North Carolina Democrat John Edwards and New York Republican Rudy Giuliani. (N.B.: Republican candidate Mitt Romney is worth about 10 times that, but has yet to release financials thanks to a filing extension)

Now, there are very few ways that you can make a $30 million fortune and not have it come off as unseemly. The vagaries of a millionaire's financial records will always feel juicy -- $3 million book advance! $11.4 million in speaking fees! Up to $24.7 million invested in hedge funds! All of this sounds vaguely suspicious. But which financial details are legitimately worrisome and which just red herrings?

The Times major strike at Rudy Giuliani's millions? It turns out that the former mayor made most of his sizable fortune by capitalizing on his post-9/11 celebrity through speaking fees and book royalties.

The fortune earned by Edwards during his trial law days was already thoroughly picked over during the 2004 campaign, when he was presidential candidate John Kerry's running mate, but this time around the Times latches on to a fresh chunk of bait. That's the Democratic hopeful's newfound involvement in the hedge fund world. Edwards signed up as an advisor for the Fortress Group in 2005.

Edwards reports less than $500,000 in salary for 2006, in addition to a large chunk of his personal savings invested in the fund -- on the face of things, that's innocuous, and nothing to the appearance of Giuliani profiting off of an American tragedy.

Except that the public has developed allergic reaction to hedge funds. Thanks to wildly outsized executive pay packages and the exclusive nature of investments, hedge funds have come to stand for Wall Street excesses and financial elitism in the public eye. Even assuming that Edwards' involvement with Fortress is ethically faultless, the association will still be a P.R. liability for a self-proclaimed "populist" candidate.

It's not clear what the ultimate impact of candidates' fortunes, and the source of those fortunes, will be to on how America votes. Does wealth make a difference? Should it?

by Liz Gunnison