Q: It doesn't seem like any of the tech industry's policy desires -- such as the push for more H1-B visas for skilled workers, the research and development tax credit, trade authority, or broadband access -- are going to be a high priority in either a John McCain or Obama administration. Do you agree?

Sewell: Nothing is going to happen for the first -- I don't know how long -- while people sort out the financial crisis. We are going to be mired in this for some period of time when the new administration, whomever it is, takes over. Getting things on the agenda is going to be a challenge.... If you accept the picture you have just painted for us, there are two things you can do. We can take our marbles, go back to California, stick our head in the sand and hope that everything is going to be all right someday, or we can try to make a bigger investment -- both in terms of time, money, resources -- in telling the story.

Q: How has Intel's Washington presence changed over the years?

Sewell: We started in D.C. in 1986 with a one-man office. I think we have gone through a slow maturation process in terms of recognizing that we needed to have more than just one figure in D.C.... Two years ago, I would say -- at that point, we recognized that this very, very slow growth wasn't giving us the kind of ability to deal with issues on the ground that we wanted.... The decision was made a couple of years ago to try to increase both the staffing levels in Washington but also the numbers of issues that we could cover from the Washington office.

Q: As companies are looking to tighten up financially in this weakening economy, will more technology associations merge? And will trade associations lower their fees?

Cleveland: You have heard about talks between [the American Electronics Association] and [the Information Technology Association of America] -- I am not sure where they stand. [The Information Technology Industry Council] has just put a big person in place. I would expect these types of discussions to continue given the overlap between TechNet, CEO Technology Council, and ITAA and AEA and ITI -- there are a lot of acronyms out there -- and Intel is involved in a lot of these trade associations.

Sewell: I think it is different for each trade association. I think we have already seen trade associations that are willing to negotiate in their fees at this point and are willing to say, "We would like to keep you on board, but if you want to drop to a lower membership level that's OK." So there is more ability to negotiate, there's more flexibility in fees, but I don't think there is a common policy across the trade associations to either drop their fees or to change the way in which they charge the fees.... There is consolidation in the tech industry, so not surprisingly there will be consolidation in tech associations. I think it is likely to be the case that we will see some consolidation.

Q: Why do people in Silicon Valley seem to clump together under a Democratic or Republican banner? What causes Intel to be seen as centrist while Google is seen as liberal?

Sewell: It is, remarkably, not part of the landscape in Silicon Valley.... Largely the character of the corporation comes from the persuasion of the people at the top, where you have a senior executive group that tends to have a particular political persuasion, then that's reflected by the kinds of events that the senior management participate in, the kinds of activities that are sponsored, the kinds of congressional representatives and senators that are supported. And that over time begins to develop into a particular political persona. I think the perception from people looking into Silicon Valley in the past has been that it tends to be quite Republican, and I think that is changing now.

Q: How would you describe Intel?

Sewell: We're a manufacturing company, and yet what we really depend on are people that are innovative, people that are creative, people who probably don't come to work on time and who don't like being put in a box. So we need to balance the discipline of a manufacturing company with the chaotic nature of a constantly innovative and re-creative company.

Q: How has the financial turmoil affected Intel? Are any countries more welcoming to Intel right now?

Sewell: It is important to understand our business model. We sell 80 percent of the products that we build outside of the U.S., so by far the largest market for our products is a non-U.S. market. By contrast, about 70 percent of our investment... is spent in the U.S., and the bulk of our employees are in the U.S....

To the extent that this started in the U.S., the first reaction that we had as a company was that it's probably not going to have a big impact on the demand for our goods but that it could have a deleterious impact on our employees.... If in fact this does become a global issue, then we'll have to be looking at it from both the demand side and from the employee side. We are pretty much evenly split now between greater Asia, Europe, South America. Our biggest market singularly is probably Asia -- but that would include China.... We aren't seeing disproportionate slowdowns or disproportionate impacts in different parts of the world.

Q: Are you funding anything in Washington to support new growth areas for Intel?

Sewell: We have a business plan to expand our business, to grow our business, in several areas that are outside of the core microprocessor [concerns]: ... health care, consumer electronics, embedded devices, these kinds of areas....

Cleveland: Because the playing field here is going to change a little bit, we want to be able to pounce in terms of adjustments in what happens in the House, Senate and the new administration. John McCain might have a different view on immigration, something that's more moderate than his Republican Party counterparts, as is the case with Obama and his innovation agenda as well.

There is going to be a change in the players. And the fact that, let's say hypothetically Democrats prevailed and there was a Democratic administration. You won't have had that since '92 -- 16 years -- that might cause some adjustments in some of the issues that we cite. You have to be ready.