Welcome to POLITICO’s West Wing Playbook, your guide to the people and power centers in the Biden administration. With Allie Bice. Send tips | Subscribe here| Email Alex | Email Max As JOE BIDEN begins his second year on the job, many of the people who helped him amass a record-breaking billion dollars-plus warchest to defeat DONALD TRUMP are feeling disappointed and anxious. In conversations this week with over half a dozen of the Biden campaign’s top financiers, many grumbled about the recent failed legislative pushes including Build Back Better and voting rights. Others offered the traditional donor lament about the lack of access they got with members of the White House and the reduced number of in-person events due to Covid-19. “They feel frustrated, they feel stymied,” one Democratic operative who regularly talks to donors told West Wing Playbook. “They miss the interactions and feeling a part of the team.” “I’m disappointed that they didn't seem to learn as much of the negatives of the Obama years,” one fundraiser said, noting Biden’s comments earlier this month that Republican intransigence in the Senate took him by surprise. The messaging around Build Back Better, the economy, Covid-19 vaccinations, and other issues was, in this fundraiser’s view, “malpractice.” Other bundlers even had a little bit of nostalgia for the Obama era of fundraising. While he enjoyed socializing with A-List Hollywood celebrities, the 44th president was famously averse to hobnobbing with the fundraisers and power players who held the Democratic party’s pursestrings. Biden was never known for his prodigious fundraising. But with his years of experience and connections, people who have seen him work the room with donors said he’s better at the gladhanding than Obama was, and doesn’t seem to mind it as much either. But multiple major fundraisers who hauled in cash for both Obama and Biden told West Wing Playbook that they felt the Obama team was better at donor maintenance, returning emails and calls faster and being more available to major fundraisers hoping to reach people in the White House. CNN reported earlier this month that some donors felt insulted when they reached out to the White House and were dealt with by staff they felt were lower on the totem pole than they deserved. “Doesn't mean you got what you wanted,” one fundraiser told West Wing Playbook, recalling the Obama years. “But they at least returned your email.” The White House did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Of course, political donors are almost always disappointed. Many of the criticisms donors and fundraisers have had about Biden in his first year are almost exactly the same as ones big donors made about Obama. And some donors say that their peers should stop being so presumptuous. “Between the pandemic, modernizing our infrastructure, rebooting our economy, the crisis in Ukraine and everything else President Biden is managing right now, it's mind-boggling to me that fellow fundraisers would choose this moment to claim they're entitled to special treatment,” said LUTHER LOWE, the senior vice president for public policy at Yelp who raised over $100,000 for Biden in 2020. The White House has given rich donors special treatment, as every modern White House feels compelled to do. Earlier this month, some of Biden’s top 2020 fundraisers and donors were invited to a call with the White House chief of staff RON KLAIN as the president marked his first year in office, two people with knowledge of the call told West Wing Playbook. The Biden administration has also held several big public events where fundraisers and donors were invited. And Biden has given many big donors plum ambassadorships. "The White House at first was like ‘oh we don’t want to make donors ambassadors,’ but look at the list the last two months — they’re a lot of donors,” said one disgruntled Biden bundler. “It's not that they don't like major donors, they just don't like major donors they're not friends with.” Many people who helped Biden raise $1.7 billion were invited to the signing of the infrastructure bill last year, as well as a recent closed-door dinner facilitated by the DNC in the fall. Biden’s team has tried to connect with donors in small settings, inviting some donors to the White House late last year for a small Hanukkah dinner, one person familiar with the event told West Wing Playbook. And CNN reported that the Democratic National Committee invited donors to a call with White House counselor STEVE RICCHETTI. The Biden team has also tried to keep donors in the loop virtually. Throughout the first year of his presidency, the president and top staff have regularly held small calls and Zooms with top donors and bundlers. One plugged-in Democratic campaign veteran who regularly talks to high-dollar donors and fundraisers acknowledged that there was a “malaise” among some of the Biden campaign’s biggest financiers. But they also said it seemed unlikely any dissatisfaction would translate to difficulty raising money if Biden decides to run again, especially given the likelihood of a 2024 rematch with Trump. “There's a recognition that it's not like normal times,” one Democratic fundraiser said. “They're not going to the White House for dinners and cocktail parties and special events, they're not hosting him at their homes. There's an overall understanding, and patience around the process. They are rallying for him because the alternative is something they don't want to live with.” SEND YOUR HOT TAKE — We want to incorporate more of your feedback. 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