For rich politicians wanting to hold onto their jobs, Election Night 2009 was unnerving.

Bruce Springsteen, hero of the working-class, has been rubbing elbows in the Hamptons, the summertime haven for the rich and powerful.

New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, a billionaire, made progress last year on his effort to give away most of his fortune in his lifetime.

Who says the economy is in the tank? There are at least two billionaires willing to spend and spend and spend in these perilous financial times.

Fifteen years ago, veteran political operatives Ed Rollins, a Republican, and Hamilton Jordan, a Democrat, joined forces as co-campaign managers of Ross Perot’s bid for president.

This year, Rollins and Jordan may find themselves in opposing camps.

Rollins has signed on as the national campaign chairman of Mike Huckabee’s surging presidential campaign, while Jordan is one of the big names behind Unity08, a bid to “elect a president and vice president who will reunite America” according to their website.

In business, Warren Buffett likes to invest in industries he understands. That means insurance companies, a candymaker, furniture and jewelry stores, even a daily newspaper. Nothing high tech.

In politics, the Oracle of Omaha is much the same. He is one of the world’s wealthiest people, but remains an outspoken critic of economic inequality. He lives in the same Omaha house today that he bought for $31,500 in 1958 and mainly supports Democrats.

Buffett helped Hillary Clinton raise $1 million at a New York fundraiser in June and says he will do the same later for Barack Obama.

“If you’re the luckiest 1 percent of humanity, you owe it to the rest of humanity to think about the other 99 percent,” Buffett says. Of course, just as in business, he would be hard pressed to ignore a dream deal. For him, that would be a presidential ticket of New York City mayor Mike Bloomberg, who recently became an independent, and California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican with populist views.