NEW YORK — It’s cocktail hour on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, and dozens of rich New Yorkers are gathered around a grand piano, sipping white wine in the living room of an elegant high-rise apartment. There is plenty of gossip to be heard, but this is not a social event. The city’s moneyed elite have come to commiserate about their growing distaste for their longtime congresswoman, Carolyn B. Maloney — and to open their wallets for the unlikely 34-year-old challenger they hope will defeat her.
They did not always feel this way about Maloney. The 64-year-old Democratic representative hasn’t faced a serious challenge to her seat since she was first elected in 1992. For nearly two decades, they have viewed her as a solid, if unremarkable, member of Congress. But to the dismay of her ultra-rich constituents — among them more than a few Wall Street billionaires — Maloney has become one of the Capitol’s leading advocates for tough new restrictions on the banking and credit card industries. The way the people at the cocktail party see it, Maloney betrayed them. And they want her fired.
Full Story: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/07/AR2010070705333.html