David Hatch
© National Journal Group, Inc.
If Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., wins the White House, he'll have an unlikely technology company to thank for helping him get there: GoDaddy.com.
Setting aside the apparent incongruity of one of television's raunchiest advertisers backing the GOP nominee, GoDaddy stands out for another reason: It's part of a new crop of technology companies playing Washington's old money game.
Christine Jones, general counsel for the Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Internet domain registry, is bundling donations for McCain, though GoDaddy won't say how much she's raising.
A spokesman for the company and others emphasized that such fundraising is an extracurricular activity unrelated to corporate interests. But Massie Ritsch, spokesman for the Center for Responsive Politics, sees it differently. "If serving as a major fundraiser for a presidential candidate were bad for business, these executives wouldn't do it," he said. "So they're expecting that their efforts could pay off for their companies, or at a minimum do no harm."
Other fresh corporate faces gathering sizable dollars for the remaining contenders include telecom providers IDT Corp., Level 3 Communications and RealNetworks, an online company specializing in music and video downloads.
GoDaddy gained notoriety for racy Super Bowl ads so filled with sexual innuendo, cleavage and bathroom humor that one was yanked in 2005 and 25 others have been rejected since then by ABC, CBS and Fox. It still serves up plenty of raunch on the Internet, where its banned ads -- and some salacious Internet-only ones -- can be viewed.
The company was founded in 1997. Its policy concerns include matters related to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, known as ICANN. The company had no comment.
Colorado-based Level 3, founded in 1998, lacks the name recognition of AT&T or Comcast, but its top executives are contributing as if they are in that league. According to Public Citizen, a trio of Level 3 executives are bundlers for Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., raising more than $350,000 for him.
Donald Gips, group vice president for corporate strategy and a telecom policy adviser for Obama's campaign, is collecting at least $200,000. Gips previously served as chief domestic policy adviser for former Vice President Al Gore and as head of the FCC's International Bureau.
CEO James Crowe is raising more than $100,000, while Vice Chairman and Executive vice president Charles Miller is gathering at least $50,000. All three declined to comment.
Among the company's top policy priorities in the next administration is maintaining the Internet's openness. Since Level 3 operates on infrastructure controlled by telecom and cable giants, it is susceptible to potentially being blocked or degraded by network operators offering competing services.
Network neutrality, the concept of barring anti-competitive behavior on the Internet, is emerging as a potential legislative battleground next year. Democratic rivals Obama and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York support strict safeguards, while McCain opposed an amendment in 2006 that would have toughened the neutrality provisions in a major telecom bill.
Bundling more than $100,000 for Obama is Michael Parham, associate general counsel at Seattle-based RealNetworks, which has blossomed along with the Internet since its founding in 1995. Parham was not available for comment.
Other McCain bundlers include James Courter and Michael Glassner, the CEO and spokesman, respectively, for IDT, founded in 1991 with three employees. The two are raising a six-figure total for McCain, to whom they have personal ties. Courter, a former Republican House member from New Jersey, served with McCain in the House. Glassner met McCain on the campaign trail while advising former Sen. Bob Dole, R-Kan., on his 1996 presidential bid.
"Our motivation is primarily national security and foreign policy," Glassner said, while acknowledging IDT is playing a bigger role in federal elections as it grows. "Yeah, we've probably become more active over the years," he said.
Old-guard industry incumbents, of course, still dominate donations from individual employees and PACs, as well as bundling activities.
According to the Center for Responsive Politics, AT&T is the second-largest contributor to federal candidates since 1989. Time Warner ranks 28th, followed by Microsoft (31st) and Verizon (34th).
In this year's presidential race, CBS parent Viacom is the 14th most generous corporate donor to the White House contenders, including those who've dropped out, according to the center. Microsoft and Time Warner rank 23rd and 25th, respectively.
But newer players, such as the increasingly Washington-conscious Google, which opened new lavish D.C. digs in January, are gaining ground. The center ranks the Internet search engine as Obama's 13th biggest corporate supporter, just above Time Warner. IDT is sixth on McCain's list.
Doug Weber, senior researcher at the center, found that GoDaddy, Google, IDT and Level 3 have boosted their presidential giving from 2004 to 2008 -- in most cases sharply. Google-related donations jumped from $63,400 in 2004 to $356,582 for the 2008 race so far. GoDaddy, which had no contributions four years ago, has given $17,050 this time around.
Only RealNetworks had a slight decrease, but that's likely to change for a simple reason: the 2008 election -- and its fundraising cycle -- have more than seven months to go.
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