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A Closer Look At The Democratic Field
by Ted LeventhalThe field of Democratic candidates vying for the presidential nomination this year includes some old friends of the technology industry and a few candidates who are relative unknowns in tech circles.
Technology issues are featured prominently in the Democratic contenders' policy platforms, however, and the frontrunners all have voting records that appear favorable to the industry. Should a Democrat replace President Bush in the White House in 2005, lobbyists said, the industry's concerns likely will be included in the next administration's agenda.
Kerry And Edwards: Friends Of Technology?
Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry and North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, viewed by many as the leading candidates in the race, are considered friends of the tech industry. Kerry, however, has a longer Senate voting record than Edwards on key issues, and some in the industry are concerned by Edwards' calls for more restrictive trade measures while on the campaign trail.
The Information Technology Industry Council (ITI), which grades tech-related votes in Congress, gives Kerry an 83 percent lifetime rating, while Edwards' rating is 82 percent.
On trade, Kerry voted for key trade measures in 1993, 1994 and 1999, as well as for trade-negotiating authority for President Bush in 2002. He missed last year's votes on U.S. trade deals with Chile and Singapore. Edwards, who was first elected to the Senate in 1998, voted for trade-negotiating authority for Bush when it was first considered in the Senate. But he voted against the final trade-negotiating law and against the trade deals with Chile and Singapore.
Both Edwards and Kerry voted in 2001 to make the tax credit on research and development permanent, and for the 2002 tax-cut bill. Both voted against the call for a one-time tax reduction for U.S. corporations that reinvested in the United States money earned by their overseas branches. And in 2002, Kerry voted against an amendment that would have made the now-expired moratorium on Internet-related taxes permanent.
Industry representatives praised Kerry as a reliable supporter. "There are a limited number of people up there who get it when it comes to tech, and he gets it," said Michael Petricone, vice president of technology policy with the Consumer Electronics Association. He praised Kerry's positions on trade, Internet taxes, high-speed Internet services and anti-piracy technology.
Kerry's platform calls for making the R&D tax credit permanent and increasing research funding for the National Science Foundation (NSF) and other agencies; creating a nationwide broadband strategy; and budgeting $10 billion for advanced energy research. He also favors more spectrum for unlicensed devices such as Wi-Fi wireless technology, government support for universal Internet access, the enforcement of trade laws and anti-piracy efforts.
But lobbyists said the industry is troubled by protectionist rhetoric from both Kerry and Edwards, as well as by a Senate bill introduced last year by Kerry that would require operators at overseas customer-service call centers of U.S. firms to disclose their locations. "It is disappointing that he has felt compelled to employ some pretty hot anti-business rhetoric during the primary but not a total surprise considering the positions of the top tier in the primary contests," one lobbyist said.
Technology companies also are somewhat wary of Edwards' background as a trial lawyer but are buoyed by his support from North Carolina's Research Triangle Park in the Raleigh-Durham area.
Calls to the Edwards and Kerry campaigns were not returned by press time.
Clark And Dean: Little-Known Entities To Techies
Retired Gen. Wesley Clark and former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean are not known as well in the tech industry, though Dean rose to early prominence in the race in large part because of his prowess at using the Internet to raise money and rally supporters.
Clark, who briefly served on the board of and lobbied for the database services firm Acxiom, plans to release a position paper on technology later this month, said Jason Furman, the campaign's policy director. "The general talks about technology all the time in the context of energy and the environment, nanotechnology, and R&D," Furman said. "He wants to make this a central theme before the election."
In his manufacturing plan, Clark addresses the issue of the "offshore outsourcing" of U.S. jobs to other countries. He calls for incentives to create jobs in the United States, for an end to tax provisions that facilitate overseas operations, for a federal effort to identify U.S. companies that export jobs overseas and for statistics on outsourcing.
Yet the industry reaction has been mixed. "Clark has a great bio but doesn't appear ready for prime time on business, trade or technology issues," one lobbyist said. "At least his positions have not been reported.
Harris Miller, president of the Information Technology Association of America, noted that Clark "did work for a high-tech company and has an understanding of that" and added, "While commanding forces in the Balkans, he was very cognizant of the role of technology in war, and he's obviously a very smart guy."
As for Dean, tech industry representatives in Washington praised his ability to inspire the Democratic base, renew attention on the Internet and information technology, and take bold and unique positions on some tech issues. But they doubt his ability to be a viable national candidate. "He deserves credit for igniting a fire under Democrats but is unelectable," given his extreme positions on foreign policy and trade, one expert argued.
In September, Dean's campaign issued a seven-point Internet policy in support of open access and common ownership for the global maze of computer networks. "Dean is for preserving fair-use rights, the rights to use content in flexible ways," Petricone said. "It was good to see a presidential candidate prioritize these issues."
The document urges "an honest conversation about what's real, possible and desirable when it comes to the gift of the Internet."
Lieberman: The Techie Who Might Have Been President
The tech industry lost its best friend among Democrats when Sen. Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut left the race after failing to win or place high in any of the early primaries and caucuses. Lieberman consistently has supported the industry's priorities on taxes, trade, research and development and a host of other issues.
"A lot of tech executives in Silicon Valley, especially Democrats, were hopeful that [Lieberman] would have been able to put up better numbers based on his record on technology," an industry expert said of the vice presidential candidate in 2000.
Lieberman has a 100 percent lifetime rating from ITI. His technology platform called for a range of proposals, from tax credits for IT purchases to increased R&D funding and a doubling of the NSF budget. He was widely praised as the best tech candidate both by Republican and Democratic lobbyists.
"Lieberman is one of the best technology leaders in Washington and has been for more than a decade," said Bruce Mehlman, executive director of the Computer Systems Policy Project and a former assistant Commerce secretary in the Bush administration. "He tends to be out in front on issues as opposed to just following the herd."
"Lieberman is clearly the most informed, engaged and articulate leader on technology and trade issues in the Democratic Party in the Senate," another lobbyist said. "Unfortunately, his style and message did not fare well."
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