>>My point was that high-tech business leadership left
the Republican party in the early 90s in favor of the Democrats primarily due to the belief that the Republican leaders were unable to comprehend global economic issues. Even after the economic recovery, Clinton still had major support from the business community vs. Dole.
Wrong on all points! I knew this and know so can you:
Fortune Magazine Issue: September 7, 1998
Yeah, Silicon Valley Is Full of Geniuses
They Have a Lot to Learn About Politics
Jeffrey H. Birnbaum
For years there have been only a handful of cities where
politicians could pan for gold and hope to fill their
saddlebags: New York, Washington, Los Angeles, and
maybe Dallas and Miami. Now there's a new stop for pols on the
troll: Silicon Valley. But here's the surprising truth: Silicon Valley
has more cachet than cash. The digital geniuses are political
neophytes who don't give as generously--or even think about
government with the same sophistication--as folks from more
established fundraising venues. Silicon Valley may be at the heart of
economic growth, but it's still on the periphery of politics. Says
venture capitalist John Doerr: "We are incredibly naive about all of
this."
It used to be that when someone said "Washington," Palo Altoans
thought "Redmond." Their minds began shifting east in 1996, when
the Valley's wealthy business owners provided millions to defeat
California's Proposition 211, a ballot initiative that would have
made shareholder lawsuits easier to file in California. After their
victory, the mildly libertarian executives began to adopt more
conventional labels--like Republican and Democrat--and to get
more involved in politics. They institutionalized their efforts last year
by creating the Technology Network, a group of 140 executives
who convene briefings and fundraisers for candidates of both
parties. Addressing a TechNet breakfast has become a rite of
passage for politicians with national aspirations.
The common wisdom is that Silicon Valley is Democratic. In fact, it
is still largely unaligned, and a battle rages over which party will
dominate. At the center of the struggle--at least at the presidential
level--are two partners of the venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins
Caufield & Byers. Doerr leans democratic; Floyd Kvamme is the
Republican. In 1996, Doerr captured headlines by trotting out 50
executives for Clinton-Gore. Kvamme worked feverishly to locate
245 execs for Dole-Kemp. But because Dole never bothered to
travel there to accept the plaudits, the perception of a Democratic
Valley lingers.
A related misconception is that Gore will get most of the Valley's
money, and that the amount will be gargantuan. The real story is
that there are plenty of prominent executives who lean Republican,
such as Jim Barksdale of Netscape and John Chambers of Cisco
Systems. Gore's high-profile effort to consult with technology
entrepreneurs (who call themselves Gore Techs) is designed to
obscure the fact that most CEOs distrust him because of his
environmental views. Indeed, Gore's top fundraisers privately admit
that the amount that can be raised from the Valley is relatively
small. Remember, for the presidential race there's a
$1,000-per-person limit.
Kvamme estimates that only half the Valley's business leaders even
care about politics; Doerr says it's less. That puts both men in the
role of teacher to an unruly class. Even the influential TechNet has
a ways to go. "TechNet is actively bipartisan, which is a good
thing," says Bob Grady, an investment banker and former
Washington (D.C.) hand. "But it is developing a reputation for
being willing to host a fundraiser for basically anybody. They have
to develop more discipline." They also need to be a bit less
starry-eyed. One button seen at recent TechNet gatherings reads
gore-doerr in 2004. Get real: It will never happen.
pathfinder.com
btw, it has been the Dem party that has tried to amend the law so their biggest special interest group $$$-wise, the trial lawyers*, could more easily sue high tech firms. And the Dems are the luddites that have opposed Nafta and expansion of global trade, not the Reps.
* aside from the totalitarian Chinese. |
