The Trentonian (Trenton, NJ)

Business faces tricky path navigating post-Trump politics

- By Brian Slodysko and Josh Boak

WASHINGTON >> For more than a half-century, the voice emerging from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s monolithic, Beaux Arts-styled building near the White House was predictabl­e: It was the embodiment of American business and, more specifical­ly, a shared set of interests with the Republican Party.

The party’s bond with corporate America, however, is fraying.

Fissures have burst open over the GOP’s embrace of conspiracy theories and rejection of mainstream climate science, as well as its dismissal of the 2020 election outcome. The most recent flashpoint was in Georgia, where a new Republican-backed law restrictin­g voting rights drew harsh criticism from Delta Air Lines and Coca Cola, whose headquarte­rs are in the state, and resulted in Major League Baseball pulling the 2021 All-Star Game from Atlanta.

Republican­s were furious. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky warned that their actions were “quite stupid,” alienating “a lot of Republican fans.” GOP strategist­s argued that they no longer needed corporate America’s money to win elections as they try to rebrand as a party of blue-collar workers.

That extends an opportunit­y to President Joe Biden and congressio­nal Democrats to find an ally in an unlikely place when the party has unified control of the federal government for the first time in a decade. Biden is pushing an ambitious $2.3 trillion infrastruc­ture package that includes corporate tax increases — which the White House is characteri­zing to CEOs as upfront investment­s that will ultimately make companies more profitable.

“It’s important for making the country more competitiv­e,” said Cedric Richmond, the White House’s director of public engagement. “We think the plan is so important to the country that we are advocating and singing its praises to all businesses.”

Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo estimates she has talked to more than 50 business leaders about the plan, including a round of Easter weekend phone calls. She is encouragin­g companies to focus on the entire package instead of the tax increases.

“You can’t look at one piece of it and say that one number makes you walk away,” she said. “They say, ‘That’s fair. Let me think about it.’ That’s how they run their businesses.”

Whether the corporate split with the GOP widens could help answer questions about the political direction of the country and the extent to which business can continue to influence Washington.

“Nobody in the business community wants hostile communitie­s, angry finger-pointing workforces and turbulent shareholde­r bases,” said Jeffrey A. Sonnenfeld, a senior associate dean at the Yale School of Management. “It makes your job so much harder to have every constituen­cy group at war within themselves, which has become the hallmark of the GOP.”

Sonnenfeld helped organize a Zoom call this weekend with 100 business leaders to discuss how to oppose Republican-backed proposals across the country that could limit voting. Options include stopping political donations and holding off in investment­s in states that approve the laws.

Corporate America’s marriage with Republican­s has long been one of convenienc­e, united by a belief in low taxes and the need to repeal regulation­s. But the relationsh­ip, already strained during Donald Trump’s presidency, has come under increasing pressure as companies take cultural stands.

That Republican­s and businesses report to increasing­ly distinct constituen­cies helps explain the tension.

A solid majority of Republican voters are white (86%) and older than 50 (62%), according to APVoteCast, a national survey of the 2020 electorate. Yet figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show that workers are more racially diverse and younger than the Republican base.

James Bailey, a management professor at George Washington University, published an analysis last year that suggested people who identified as Democrats cared more about a company’s political activity than Republican­s do. Of business people, he said the uproar over the Georgia voting law “is a great opportunit­y for them to get on board with the young socially active consumer and to do so without much cost.”

Just as important, Democratic counties have become the primary engines for growth. The counties that backed Biden last year account for 71% of all U.S. economic activity, according to the Brookings Institutio­n.

Democrats say business are comfortabl­e partnering with them to address longstandi­ng issues such as infrastruc­ture after a decade of congressio­nal gridlock, even though companies dislike the possibilit­y of footing the bill.

“Responsibl­e corporate leaders want economic growth and predictabl­e, competent policy— that’s what Democrats are offering.” said Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney of New York, who is running the House Democrats’ campaign arm for the 2022 midterm elections.

Many Republican­s are exasperate­d by business’s efforts to woo consumers through liberal social politics.

“They are never going to satisfy the demands of the left,” said Steven Law, a former attorney for the Chamber who now runs Senate Leadership Fund, a big-spending outside group aligned with McConnell. Meantime “they risk alienating their natural allies in the Republican Party.”

Still, Republican­s have been a major driver of the rift, looking to capitalize on the culture clash to turn out the party base in the next election. Early indicators suggest business could face blowback.

Georgia’s Republican­controlled House voted to strip Delta of a tax break worth tens of millions of dollars annually for its criticism of the new restrictiv­e law, which voting rights groups have excoriated as an attack on democracy. The intended punishment was rendered moot after the GOP Senate failed to take it up before the legislativ­e session adjourned.

Campaign finance disclosure­s suggest corporate America’s money doesn’t buy as much influence as it once did.

Roughly a decade ago, donations from companyspo­nsored political action committees accounted for an important share of the fundraisin­g pie. But it’s stagnated as a source of campaign cash, as court rulings enabled wealthy GOP activists to pour money into the political system.

Just 10 GOP megadonors account for half of the giving to major super political action committees controlled by Republican congressio­nal leaders since 2012, collective­ly pouring $541 million into the committees, according to an analysis by The Associated Press of donors who gave over $1,000. The megadonors also contribute­d twice as much as convention­al PACs and other groups that represent a broad swath of corporate interests.

Political spending by the Chamber has also dropped precipitou­sly. After spending $29 million in 2016, mostly supporting Republican­s and attacking Democrats, the group’s contributi­ons dropped to $10.9 million in 2018, according to data from nonpartisa­n Center for Responsive Politics. In 2020, the group endorsed 23 Democrats, which Republican­s saw as a betrayal.

 ?? EVAN VUCCI — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE ?? In this April 7, 2021, file photo Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo speaks during a press briefing at the White House in Washington. Raimondo estimates she has talked to more than 50business leaders about the $2.3 trillion infrastruc­ture package that includes corporate tax increases, She is encouragin­g companies to focus on the entire package instead of the tax increases.
EVAN VUCCI — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE In this April 7, 2021, file photo Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo speaks during a press briefing at the White House in Washington. Raimondo estimates she has talked to more than 50business leaders about the $2.3 trillion infrastruc­ture package that includes corporate tax increases, She is encouragin­g companies to focus on the entire package instead of the tax increases.

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