David Hatch
© National Journal Group, Inc.
With the winnowing presidential field and the dust settling from Super Tuesday, the race is on -- for a new FCC chairman.
Election Day might be nine months away, but the jockeying to replace embattled agency chief Kevin Martin as the foremost regulator of the communications sector is reaching a fever pitch.
The candidates don't talk much about telecom and media issues on the hustings, but if you peek behind the scenes, you'll find plenty of past and present FCC officials and congressional staffers dispensing policy advice and/or bundling donations.
At least three previous FCC chairmen and one former commissioner are aiding various campaigns, not to mention the dozens of industry executives and lobbyists throwing their weight and money behind candidates.
Why are so many techies lending a hand? "The issues are much more prominent now than they were years ago," said Blair Levin, a telecom analyst at Stifel Nicolaus. He should know: as one of several Washingtonians informally guiding Illinois Democratic Sen. Barack Obama's team, his name has surfaced as a potential choice for FCC chairman. Levin served as chief of staff to Democratic FCC chief Reed Hundt from 1993 to 1997.
Martin's second term expires in 2011. Both Obama and his top rival Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., would replace him, and while a Republican might keep Martin on, it's assumed that an incoming GOP president would install his own chief.
So far, the candidate with the deepest bench of telecom and media gurus is Obama, who has attracted a who's who of Washington insiders. "They find him the most inspiring political candidate they've run into since they were kids," said a starry-eyed source raising money for the senator.
Julius Genachowski, whose extensive resume includes stints as chief counsel to Hundt and senior executive with Barry Diller's IAC/InterActiveCorp, is a top adviser who could easily step in to run the FCC. Some sources predicted he would take a high-level post elsewhere, perhaps the White House.
Karen Kornbluh, policy director on Obama's Senate staff and a key telecom and media adviser to the campaign, is often cited as a leading prospect for chairman.
During the Clinton administration, she was a top Treasury staffer and held several titles at the FCC.
Another possibility is Larry Strickling, previously the FCC's Common Carrier Bureau chief and now a full-time staffer on Obama's campaign team.
Democratic FCC regulator Jonathan Adelstein has close ties to individuals backing Obama, including former Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., for whom Adelstein worked as a senior legislative aide.
Other supporters of the Illinois lawmaker include Hundt, his Democratic successor Bill Kennard and Don Gips, chief domestic policy adviser for former Vice President Al Gore, a former FCC official and a high-level executive at Level 3 Communications Inc.
Susan Ness, an FCC commissioner during Bill Clinton's presidency, is a strong backer of Hillary and widely viewed as the senator's top pick to head the agency. "I would think it's hers to lose," an industry source said.
The FCC's second Democrat, Michael Copps, often surfaces as a possible choice for chairman under either Clinton or Obama.
His office declined to comment. While his main political patron, former Sen. Ernest (Fritz) Hollings, D-S.C., is retired, Copps is popular among Democratic lawmakers.
But it's not just Democrats who have embraced the deep-pocketed tech community. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., has several trusted advisers culled from his years running the Senate Commerce Committee.
Disney lobbyist Bill Bailey, Google Senior Policy Counsel Pablo Chavez, and FCC staffer Maureen McLaughlin are among the former McCain aides informally helping the campaign, sources said.
Bailey was a senior committee staffer from 2002 to 2004 when McCain helmed the Commerce panel. The senator even submitted his name for an FCC commissioner position and he's often cited these days as a frontrunner to replace Martin. Bailey insisted he's not angling for the job.
"I'm supporting him because I think he's the best candidate to become president of the United States -- not for any reason other than that," he said. McLaughlin is limited in her advisory role by a federal law that restricts the partisan political activity of government employees.
In a McCain administration, expect to see Cisco Chairman and CEO John Chambers named to a high-profile position -- perhaps Treasury secretary. The senator once joked that he might choose Chambers as his running mate.
Just last week, former FCC Chairman Michael Powell endorsed McCain, praising him for his "deep and principled understanding of how the digital revolution is transforming the social and economic landscape."
It's a little tougher to gauge whom former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney would choose to oversee the FCC because of his lack of Washington experience.
A key aide on telecom and other matters is Brian Leske, formerly an attorney at MCI, now part of Verizon Communications Inc.
GOP FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell has an outside shot at the chairmanship under a Republican president, though on the downside, his ally Senate Commerce ranking member Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, faces a tough re-election battle and is entangled in a federal corruption probe.
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