Top Democratic Candidates Push Tech Policy Issues
by Sarah Myers

     The leading Democratic presidential candidates are building substantial technology policy platforms to match their strong support from leading players in the tech sector. Though low-tier candidates may be experimenting more with using the Internet to campaign, the frontrunners maintain more robust tech policy platforms and tend to be more knowledgeable of those issues.
     Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York has incorporated technology into almost every aspect of her policy platform -- from using information technology to overhaul health care to likening her plan to build a national, high-speed Internet system to the wiring of America after the development of the telephone and electricity.
     Former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina has come out in strong support of network neutrality, a term that describes efforts to ensure equal treatment of broadband content. He is also the only candidate to write the FCC and ask commissioners to use the upcoming spectrum auction to make the Internet more affordable and accessible.
     Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois wants to focus on expanding Internet access in rural areas and inner cities, and he has a plan for granting vouchers to low-income households for converter boxes to help them transition from analog to digital television broadcasts.
     Those frontrunners also have received endorsements from leading tech companies and players.
     Edwards has the support of Sega Gameworks co-founder Skip Paul, while Obama has received donations from Netscape co-founder Mark Andreessen, Netscape executive Peter Currie, and Google's chief Internet evangelist Vinton Cerf, among others. Clinton has received support from Cisco General Counsel Mark Chandler and Oracle President Charles Phillips, who hosted separate Silicon Valley fundraisers for Clinton during the first quarter of this year. (See previous coverage )
     Less prominent candidates tend to take less mainstream stances on tech-related issues. Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio, for instance, would combat the outsourcing of jobs to other countries by replacing the current H-1B visa system for highly skilled workers. His plan also includes the withdrawal of the United States from the World Trade Organization and repealing the North American Free Trade Agreement to encourage companies to keep jobs in the United States.
     Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico differs from most Democratic candidates in insisting that partnerships with Asia are necessary to ensure U.S. success. "The United States can play a useful balancing role in Asia in the decades ahead, reassuring all parties that no single Asian power will become dominant," Richardson said in a speech on U.S.-Asian relations.
     Former Sen. Mike Gravel of Alaska, meanwhile, would use the Internet to change the entire legislative process.
     "In order to realize the full potential of the Internet, the legislative powers of government must be redistributed to permit the people to make laws in a parallel partnership with their elected legislators," Gravel said in response to a white paper by Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt. and Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va. Those two are co-chairman of the Congressional Internet Caucus.
     Some of the other Democratic candidates have tackled tech issues in the past.
     Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware authored legislation to combat piracy early in the decade by punishing Internet file-sharers. And Sen. Christopher Dodd of Connecticut sought to tackle immigration issues in 2003 by reforming the H-1B and L-1 visa programs. His effort to protect U.S. jobs never made it to the Senate floor.

Voting Records, Statements Reveal GOP Tech Views
by Sandra Gonzalez

     Republican presidential candidates often are criticized, even by some experts in their own party, for lagging Democratic hopefuls in their use of technology for campaigning. But when it comes to tech issues, some of the GOP candidates have either talked technology or have congressional voting records that talk for them.
     Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas has been active in pushing legislation related to "decency" and regulatory controls on various forms of media. Sen. John McCain this year has sponsored a bill aimed at making the moratorium on certain Internet-related taxes permanent. And Reps. Duncan Hunter of California and Tom Tancredo of Colorado have voted on tech-related legislation even though they have not sponsored any since 1998 and 2003, respectively.
     Voting records aside, new, official positions on tech issues sometimes can be hard to determine for the GOP candidates. Few of the campaigns responded to questions on various tech issues posed by Technology Daily.
     David All, a Republican new media consultant, said the candidates' lack of online presence is in part responsible. "They're not hearing from online constituents who are the ones who are largely concerned with technology issues," All said.
     The campaign staff of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, the current GOP frontrunner, is mum on specific tech issues. It released only a short, general statement.
     "Mayor Giuliani believes that the free flow of information on the Internet and the development of new technologies are essential to America's global leadership in the 21st century," a spokesman said. "Open competition should be encouraged, and federal government intervention in these areas should be limited to reasonable regulation and vigilant security against those who want to exploit it for illegal or unethical acts."
     The antithesis of the traditional Republican presidential candidate is Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, All said. Paul has been a vocal opponent of Internet regulation of any type, and he is among the few candidates to discuss a forthcoming spectrum auction, for which the FCC recently approved rules.
     "One of the many problems with federal government ownership of the spectrum is that it has facilitated the monopolization of telecommunications by a few large companies," Paul said via a spokesman before the FCC hearing on the auction. "While limiting the amount of spectrum that [a] given purchaser can buy may not be the best solution to these problems, I would favor taking action to make sure that government auctions not compound the damage done to free, competitive markets by government ownership of the spectrum."
     The two former governors still in the GOP race have no voting records, but each has focused efforts on discussing one or two technology issues.
     Mitt Romney of Massachusetts has been vocal about his opposition to Internet pornography and the need for better protections for children surfing the Internet. And Mike Huckabee of Arkansas received praise while in office for brining e-government to his largely rural state.
     Former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson, who most recently served as U.S. Health and Human Services secretary, quit the presidential race a few days ago. He had promoted the use of technology to improve healthcare practices. Former Virginia Gov. James Gilmore, who ended his campaign earlier this summer, is known for his staunch opposition to Internet taxes, his work on an anti-terrorism commission and his efforts to make Virginia into the "Digital Dominion."
     For more detailed looks at tech records and statements of the remaining candidates, see the profiles compiled by Tech Daily.

Why Aren't Candidates Talking More About Tech Issues?
by Sandra Gonzalez

     When Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney confused the YouTube video-sharing site with the MySpace social network in a speech about online predators this summer, techie fingers were wagging and Romney found his technology awareness being questioned.
     Romney's staff defended him by saying that he "certainly knows the difference between MySpace and YouTube." The candidate "spoke about MySpace at five different 'Ask Mitt Anything' events in Iowa" on the day in question, a spokesman said. "In the fifth, he simply misspoke."
     The episode shows how much attention technology is getting in the 2008 race. David All, a Republican media consultant, said candidates' tech savvy is being tested and critiqued more than ever. Unfortunately, he added, candidates in both parties are "pretty pitiful" in proving that they are knowledgeable about tech-related topics.
     All said their failure to address important technology matters is largely due to the campaign staffs thinking the issues do not need to be addressed. "You're not going to find network neutrality on any poll," he said in a reference to one hot-button Internet policy topic of the past two years. "But they are issues that influential people care about."
     If the staffs aren't interested in tech issues, All said, the candidates do not get the information because they "principally rely on staff" for briefings on specific issues.
     A group called Obama For Technology is working to develop a broad-based technology platform for Democratic candidate Barack Obama. Edmund Dante Hamilton, the founder of the group, said that with voters caring more about candidates' views on issues like the Iraq war, it is no wonder technology issues are not first priority for campaigns.
     "Technology in itself is not on the same level as Iraq," Hamilton said. "People are probably telling [Obama] he's better off talking about one issue than another."
     After a group of Obama supporters from his Web site drafted a technology platform proposal for the Illinois senator, Hamilton said he had a firsthand experience with an "uninterested" staff. The group was approached by the campaign after submitting the proposal but was asked to volunteer tech skills for the candidate, not for opinions about tech issues.
     "Here we were trying to do something strategic and they wanted us to string wires and cables," he said. "I think they are missing the greater picture of how technology can affect America other than in the fundraising area."
     While Obama's campaign may have been hesitant to listen to the citizen group for advice, John Palfrey, executive director of the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University, said Obama is actually "someone who has listened to some of the great people in the field."
     Obama's campaign said he has visited with technology leaders from Illinois, Silicon Valley and "some of the leading academics in the arena."
     "While not an expert in the mechanics of technology," a spokesman said, "Barack Obama believes in the power of innovation and technology to change lives, raise our standard of living, and better connect citizens to each other and their government."
     A spokesman for Republican candidate Ron Paul also admitted to needing assistance with technology issues, saying that while Paul "considers himself to be well-informed," he also recognizes "that there are others out there with greater, more complete knowledge."
     Romney's campaign spokesman said he "routinely" meets with tech experts but mostly "relies upon data to reach a decision [about issues], including in the area of technology."
     Other campaigns are less interested, according to Palfrey. "It's pretty clear when you go to their Web sites because you don't see a ton of technology material," Palfrey said. "You can [also] probably tell a little from their use of social mediums and the extent to which they use it" as to how important tech matters are to the candidates.
     All said that without strong online presences, candidates are likely to disregard tech issues. "Ron Paul's activity online is in part responsible for him addressing technology issues in a comprehensive way," he said, adding that accessing that audience is a crucial part of being viewed as tech savvy.
     Palfrey added that since it is still early in the campaign, he hopes tech issues will be more widely addressed. "I don't blame them for not addressing them" thus far, he said. "I think that over time, candidates will get prompted to say more things about specific issues."

Free Trade: What The Presidential Contenders Say
by Winter Casey

     Some Democratic presidential candidates are leery of trade agreements in general, while others advocate environmental and labor considerations. Republican candidates, meanwhile, appear to be divided over trade issues.
     Democratic frontrunners Hillary Clinton and John Edwards oppose the pending trade agreement with South Korea. Edwards also opposes any trade agreements that do not have international labor and environmental standards, according to his campaign, and he has consistently opposed the North American Free Trade Agreement, which took effect in 2004.
     An issue tracker at the Council on Foreign Relations provides details on other candidates. It says Joseph Biden, Barack Obama and Bill Richardson generally support free-trade policies but have environmental and labor concerns.
     Obama spoke against the Central American Free Trade Agreement in 2005, and Biden has criticized CAFTA and voted against agreements with Singapore and Chile. Biden's campaign said he will insist on strong labor and environmental protections in trade deals and decide upon each pact individually.
     In the past, Richardson has seemed more trade-friendly. In 1998, he supported NAFTA and favored giving the president authority to negotiate trade deals more quickly.
     Mike Gravel has called NAFTA "a disaster for the working class of both the United States and Mexico." His campaign Web site notes an Economic Policy Institute study that said the deal has cost more than 1 million U.S. jobs.
     On another trade front, Christopher Dodd has voiced concern over outsourcing American jobs to other countries. "Government contracts should not go to companies that fulfill their contracts by hiring overseas workers," he said in 2004.
     Trade appears to be more of a top issue to Dennis Kucinich than any other Democratic candidate. Kucinich contends that the World Trade Organization, NAFTA, presidential trade-negotiating authority and a proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas should all be rejected. He wants bilateral trade agreements to include wage and environmental safeguards.
     Canceling NAFTA "and the WTO will enable the U.S. to protect high-tech jobs from outsourcing," according to a statement on his campaign site. "This, plus careful monitoring of H-1B visa practices, will slow the tide of outsourcing." He said the "expanded use of H-1B and L-1 visas has had a negative effect on the workplace of information technology workers in America."
     Some GOP candidates have records of supporting trade pacts. Sen. Sam Brownback has supported normalizing trade relations with Vietnam, implementing the Central American deal, and favoring trade with Singapore and Chile, according to the Web site OnTheIssues.com.
     According to the Club for Growth, Rudy Giuliani generally supports free trade but has a "sparse record" on the issue and opposed NAFTA.
     Presidential contenders such as Mike Huckabee, Duncan Hunter, Ron Paul and Tom Tancredo have slightly different views on the issue.
     Tancredo opposes the renewal of trade-negotiating authority, which expired this summer. "The constitution gives Congress, not the executive, the power to negotiate treaties," he said. He also voted no on implementing CAFTA and agreements with Chile and Singapore, according to OnTheIssues.
     Hunter's Web site said that although American workers are "the most productive and innovative in the world," they face an "unfair environment." He said China is cheating on trade and taking millions of American jobs.
     Huckabee also has expressed concern about U.S. job losses.
     And Paul's campaign said he favors trade -- but by free people in countries without the interference of the government. He supports tariffs to help the U.S. government fulfill its constitutional obligations but not to discourage or encourage trade. Paul has supported withdrawing U.S. support for the WTO and has criticized CAFTA and trade agreements with Chile, Oman and Singapore.

Lower Tier Tries Tech Tools For Innovative Campaigning
by Sarah Myers

     Presidential candidates are trying everything they can to discover the next big thing in technology and politics -- from text-messaging and song contests to interviews in college dormitories. But the candidates who rank lower in the polls often tend to be the ones on the frontlines of innovation.
     "The lowest-tier candidates appear to be using technology in more experimental ways," said Julie Barko Germany, deputy director of George Washington University's Institute for Politics, Democracy and the Internet. "When you're a candidate seriously running for the presidential nomination, you have to be guaranteed that it'll have a positive result. But the lower-tier candidates really have nothing to lose."
     Democratic candidate Mike Gravel blogs regularly on sites like The Huffington Post, while another Democrat, Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware, made an offer on his Web site to hold a national conference call for supporters holding debate watch parties. New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, also a Democrat, features daily blog roundups on his campaign site.
     On the Republican side, Rep. Tom Tancredo of Colorado routinely uploads "Tancredo's Takes" to his YouTube channel. And still undeclared Republican candidate Fred Thompson has promised to be the first blogging president. (As a cast member of the television series "Law and Order," he also is the only candidate with a substantial profile on IMDB.com and in reruns on NBC.)
     Republican Rep. Ron Paul of Texas granted an interview to YouTube phenomenon James Kotecki, a Georgetown University student who goes by the moniker "Emergency Cheese." That bit of nontraditional campaigning came as Paul's candidacy generated a vast network of Internet supporters who ensure that his videos become as ubiquitous on YouTube as skateboarding dogs and that articles referencing him appear at the top of the online news aggregator Digg.
     Though Paul's campaign recognized that the Internet would play a significant role in the race from the beginning, the community grew on its own, campaign spokesman Jesse Benton said. "This is the first time that you really see the circle being completed," Benton said. "Action on the ground, like Ron talking about his message, drives people on the Internet, which drives more motion and energy, boots on the ground."
     Kotecki, who gained recognition for video critiques of the candidates' use of YouTube, said some of Paul's success may derive from his libertarian bent. "It's the most logical place for his supporters to be," Kotecki said. "Not only is [the Web] a libertarian place, but it costs a lot less than other forms of media for him to be involved in."
     Since the visit to his dorm room, Kotecki has received visits and calls from five candidates, including Democrats Mike Gravel and John Edwards, who is in the top tier.
     Kotecki said Paul's appeal differs from that of another candidate popular online, Barack Obama. He said Obama's success is due more to his rhetoric, which appeals to the younger voters that are more likely to be active online.
     Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio tried to engage citizens during the Democrats' CNN/YouTube debate in July. His 30-second video in the debate encouraged viewers to express their opposition to the Iraq war, and thus his candidacy, by text-messaging the word "peace."
     Less-prominent candidates also spend more time blogging themselves than frontrunners -- and Germany said that is more effective than hiring bloggers. "What [online readers] really like is a bit more authenticity, and lower-tier candidates have a little more freedom in that region" because they have fewer time constraints, she said.
     Though candidates with higher name recognition like Sens. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y. and John McCain, R-Ariz., use the Internet as a significant part of their outreach, their use of the technology appeals more to core supporters than undecided voters, Germany added.
     Whether numbers online will translate into numbers at the polls is still up for debate. A Bentley College study found that a strong online presence does not necessarily convert to strong fundraising or voter support. Rudy Giuliani routinely polls far higher than Paul in the GOP race, though Paul leads in social-networking and Web traffic and Giuliani doesn't even have a profile at the popular Facebook social network.
     Germany said one of the most important things candidates can do online is encourage users to take action and engage with the campaign. "You make people accountable to get people to show up to the vote; you get people to know each other," Germany said. "So if you know other people that support the candidate, you make accountability partners that make sure you stay active, donating, volunteering, voting."

A Family Affair: Kin Of Candidates Take To The Web
by Sarah Myers

     Even with the first primary contest months away, the 2008 presidential campaign has had its share of Internet celebrities, like "Obama girl" and "Giuliani girl." But perhaps the biggest online celebrity of the campaign so far is Elizabeth Edwards, the wife of Democratic candidate John Edwards.
     Elizabeth Edwards has presented a formidable presence online, frequently blogging on sites like MyDD, granting interviews to Salon.com and making friends on her MySpace page.
     Some of the highlights of the summer's campaigning have featured Edwards' online involvement. A quote from her Salon interview, for instance, gained notoriety for later appearing on the Drudge Report. It claimed that she had criticized Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York, the Democratic frontrunner, for not being woman enough, though some say Edwards was misquoted.
     In another example, Edwards called in to MSNBC's "Hardball" television program to confront conservative pundit Ann Coulter, who was the show's guest, for satirically saying maybe she should wish John Edwards had been killed in a terrorist attack. The video of the altercation was all over the Internet and became a source of fundraising for the campaign.
     Elizabeth Edwards is not the only family member of the presidential contenders to appear on the Web for their favorite candidates. b blogs on the campaign Web site for her husband, Democrat Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio. And the campaign site of Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., features a video of his wife, Michelle, endorsing him for president.
     Despite Clinton being one of the more tech-focused candidates, however, her family has been less involved online. Her husband, former President Clinton, has spent a significant amount of time fundraising but has tried to avoid the spotlight so his wife can establish her own identity.
     Though he doesn't spend as much time on the Web as Elizabeth Edwards or the family of Republican candidate Mitt Romney, Bill Clinton has been featured in three online videos for the campaign: a fundraising appeal, a personal endorsement and the light-hearted, viral "Sopranos" video about Clinton's campaign theme song.
     Romney's family has been greatly involved in his campaign, traveling across the country in support of his presidential bid. His five sons also run his blog, called Five Brothers, and Romney's wife, Ann, also posts content there. The brothers, along with their wives, children and extended family, post pictures from the campaign trail on the blog, and they and Ann Romney also each have their own MySpace pages.
     The entire family, including dogs, appeared in a personal 13-minute video titled "The Decision" from Christmas 2006. Ann Romney narrated the video, where the Romneys weighed the impact of a presidential run on their family.
     "The whole family is very supportive of the governor's campaign and has been very enthusiastic about campaigning on his behalf," Romney spokesman Alex Burgos said. "We just recently launched the MittMobile, which is a brainchild of the sons."
     The presence of less family-friendly content on MySpace and other social-networking sites that the campaign has used could conflict with Romney's goal of cleansing American culture, as explained in his "Ocean" ad. Still, Burgos said the campaign does not feel the need to exert too much control over the Romneys' online presence.
     "With sites like MySpace and Facebook, the overwhelming majority of users use them for appropriate reasons, to network with friends and family," Burgos said.
     Going online is the easiest way for candidates and their families to make real contact with voters, said Julie Barko Germany, deputy director of George Washington University's Institute for Politics, Democracy and the Internet. "It's a great way for a campaign to engage online in the blogosphere without having the candidate too involved because the family members become surrogates for the candidate," she said.
     But they sometimes go beyond acting as surrogates. Edwards has departed from her husband's positions, most notably by supporting gay marriage while remaining his advocate online.
     "If I want to be heard and meet the people who are expressing their opinion in that town square, I come to where they are," she said at this year's annual BlogHer conference for female bloggers. "Part of the genius of blogs is that it allows people to tell their personal stories, so if you have a policy issue, you can tell your story and you can invite people to tell their own stories."