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Earlier '08 primary nets few gains for California – so far

A Feb. 5 vote brings candidates to the state, as intended. But fundraising still trumps issues.

from the September 6, 2007 edition

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North of Tinseltown, Obama has been more competitive with Clinton than in Hollywood among the cellphone-holster set up in Silicon Valley. This year, Google's headquarters is proving to be the tech sector's Oprah mansion. Clinton, John McCain, John Edwards, Bill Richardson, and Ron Paul have all addressed town-hall-style meetings involving thousands of Google's employees.

"Google has become the new place, a watering hole of sorts," says Russell Hancock, president of Joint Venture: Silicon Valley Network, a nonprofit research group. Such gatherings give candidates access to individuals who not only are wealthy but are highly connected in the industry.

Candidates who drop in at the Googleplex also get their ears bent by the tech giant's increasingly robust lobbying arm. The company cares particularly about the US's economic competitiveness expansion of H1-B visas, which seek temporary help from skilled workers, and math and science education, says Adam Kovacevich, Google's Washington spokesman.

Similar issues are top of mind across Silicon Valley, creating disconnects with Washington.

"Every time I go to Washington, [people talk] of Asia as a threat, a security issue. They are still using terms like 'Red China,'" says Mr. Hancock. "Folks in Asia are not inscrutable, far away people here – they are our business partners, our friends, our spouses."

Immigration is a big worry in Silicon Valley – how to expand it, that is.

More than 40 percent of the population in the region is foreign born, and these are "our superstars," says Hancock.

These economic, rather than security, concerns make it heavy sledding for Republicans among the tech community, say analysts. Donations from Silicon Valley ZIP Codes are flowing to Democratic presidential hopefuls nearly 3 to 1 over Republicans. Mitt Romney, among the Republicans, has made the most headway – something observers chalk up to his venture capital background, his interest in Asia, and his talk of governing with a business sensibility.

Clinton and Obama, meanwhile, have garnered the most tech money for different reasons. Obama projects the qualities of youth, innovation, and optimism that permeate Silicon Valley. Clinton benefits from inroads made by her husband and his vice president, Al Gore, at the dawn of the region'/s political awakening in the mid-'90s. Her voting record, particularly on H1-B visas, also aligns her with Valley interests, says Sara Miles, author of "How to Hack a Party Line: The Democrats and Silicon Valley."

Those interests have grown less idealistic over time, she notes. Back in the late '90s, techies talked of changing public education and campaign-finance rules. "Now they are fighting on how to count stock options and arguing much more narrowly on their issues," says Ms. Miles.

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