McCain’s Tech Policy Failure and the Youth Vote

Much has been made of the Republican failure to capture the youth vote. The missteps here have to be understood in the context of internet politics. The successes of the Obama team’s online efforts are well known and documented. Driving home from a DC Tech Event just last night, a local entrepreneur commented on just how far behind Republicans are.

To a great extent, it is an image problem. When I mention the Republicans and the internet to my friends, a joke about a “series of tubes” is inevitable (still no mentions of Twitter from them yet).

I’m still amazed to listen to this. “I just, the other day, got – an internet was sent by my staff” is just not going to work. At least it was a viral success. To most youth voters, Republicans are old and laden with special interests. While this is an unappealing combination, it is amplified in the tech corner. McCain’s age casts him as “experienced” with foreign policy, but completely inept with technology.

Yet it doesn’t have to be. There is still room for this narrative to be rewritten. As David All points out at the RightOnline summit, many elements of Republican philosophy are well aligned with youth and net interests.

There is no one inspiring the youth anymore. So you’ve got all these youth out there who are concerned because they like hope and change and cool and hip and they want to be a part of the Abercrombie generation that’s standing behind them, but then we find out facts like 70% of high school students want to be entrepreneurs… So is there a way to pick up the youth by tapping into that entrepreneurial spirit which i believe the republican party used to own that mantle? I believe so.

Entrepreneurship, however, is a vague issue, without any single driving policy debate.

Net neutrality, as an issue, does not suffer from this problem. While the jury still seems out on whether regulating freedom comports with traditional Republican philosophies, the argument certainly can be made, and should be. Embracing net neutrality offers Republicans the opportunity the begin to differentiate its pro entrepreneurial positions from its pro business initiatives and younger voters frequently conflate the former for the latter.

The McCain campaign doesn’t see it so, however. Releasing its platform on technology today, the McCain camp maintains its opposition to government mandated network neutrality. “John McCain does not believe in prescriptive regulation like “net-neutrality,” but rather he believes that an open marketplace with a variety of consumer choices is the best deterrent against unfair practices.” Despite this, the post insists that “John McCain has always believed the government’s role must be rooted in protecting consumers. He championed laws that penalized fraudulent marketing practices, protected kids from harmful Internet content, secured consumer privacy, and sought to minimize spam.”

Taken together, these two positions seem suspiciously incongruous. While I think the network neutrality debate is more complicated than most, McCain has an opening here. Recasting the net neutrality debate in terms of Republican support for small business could be an important first step in reestablishing the Republican brand online. As it stand, this appears to be another concession to large telecommunication companies.

As an aside, will no one but Jack Welch stand up for big businesses? Check out a great exchange between him and Barack Obama on CNBC here (first video).

There is too much ignoring of the good solid companies out there with good solid workers out there doing their job… and bashing them as if they’re bricks and mortar. These companies are not just names, not just bricks and mortar. They’re human beings. They make 60, 70 thousand dollars a year. They come in and fight everyday for a better job and I think they’re being ignored and treated in the wrong way by bashing them as if they’re just a name. They’re a “drug company.”

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