Obama and his top lieutenants are working hard to win back Wall Streeters to their side after a couple of years of tension in the wake of Dodd-Frank.

Apparently financiers are still bitter about the banker-bashing then went on during the Fin-Reg debate.

Another less obvious reason why there's tension, according to what one Wall Streeter told Ben White, is that "Obama is nothing like former President Bill Clinton and simply doesn't like rich people, who in turn don't like him very much." That source said "the money would ultimately be there but would flow much more evenly to the GOP nominee (assuming it's not a tea party candidate) than it did in '08."

Remember, Obama reaped millions in donations from prominent hedge fund managers in 2008; Steve Cohen; Dan Loeb; Cliff Asness -- they loved him. But the 2010 election cycle showed a massive swing to the right for the hedge fund crew. Those previously loyal investors have abandoned the Democrats for the GOP.

The President dispatched campaign manager Jim Messina to New York to speak with Wall Street executives, including Marc Lasry -- a longtime bundler for the Democrats.

He's also been using chief of staff Bill Daley, a former JP Morgan chief, to reach "out to Wall Street executives about policy issues, donors," according to the NYT.

Before he announced his re-election bid back, Obama called about 24 Wall Streets honchos to Washington, including Eric Mindich, Paul Tudor Jones, Jamie Dinan and Glen Dubin. And Obama will be in town himself this month to meet with banking, private equity and hedge fund top brass at the Upper East Side restaurant, Daniel.

But apparently the response to his offensive has been lackluster, to say the least.

According to Ben White at Morning Money, who spoke to several senior Wall Street executives about Obama's blitz,

While campaign manager Jim Messina has been working hard to mend fences, there is still limited enthusiasm beyond the usual list of bundlers such as Blair Effron, Robert Wolf, Orin Kramer and Marc Lasry. Beyond the "low hanging fruit," as one executive put it, the money is harder to come by. One executive said he did not believe next week's $38K per head event at Daniel had sold out, though another said that may have changed in the last few days. ...

Now meet Obama's best friends on Wall Street >