Republicans gaining traction in push to turn Silicon Valley red
Source: Los Angeles Times
... Republicans, after musing about the possibility for more than a decade, have finally found a footing in Silicon Valley, ingratiating themselves with tech entrepreneurs who had long eschewed politics in general, conservative politics in particular.
Democrats haven't yet lost their advantage, but Bay Area techies are writing increasingly sizable checks to GOP candidates and causes, sometimes with great fanfare, as when Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg hosted a fundraiser at his house last year for New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. Google is helping bankroll some of the most conservative think tanks in Washington, including Norquist's group. A bromance of sorts has kindled between Elon Musk and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield.
Some tweaking of their brand and deft maneuvering on issues where Democrats are failing to deliver for tech has opened new doors for the GOP.
... The Obama administration's willingness to allow the NSA to snoop on electronic communications, exposed by former security contractor Edward Snowden, created a public relations crisis for social media firms and threatens to cost the cloud-computing industry billions of dollars in lost business. ... Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul's brand of libertarianism has intrigued some politically disconnected techies.
Read more: http://www.latimes.com/local/politics/la-me-gop-silicon-valley-20140908-story.html#page=1
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