Big business vetting McCain, Obama

WASHINGTON, Aug. 17 (UPI) -- Neither of the likely major party U.S. presidential nominees have gained the unqualified support of the country's big business elites, political observers say.

U.S. Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Barack Obama, D-Ill., are campaigning from standing starts with major corporate players who supported the candidates' primary election competitors, The New York Times reported Sunday.

Former candidates U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., and Mitt Romney, the Republican former governor of Massachusetts, were the preferred choices of big business and a process of vetting the likely nominees is now underway, analysts told the newspaper.

"Both candidates present a considerable unknown for business," John Castellani, president of the Business Roundtable, told the Times. "They have to be seen as thoughtful, responsible stewards of economic policy who can get along with business and talk to business. It's what they need and what we need."

"I've gotten calls for a year and half saying: 'Tell me about (Obama). How do you know him?'" former U.S. Commerce Secretary William Daley added. Daley, now a senior executive with JPMorgan Chase in Chicago, told the Times Obama needs to meet more with big business leaders to "raise their comfort level."