IP: Gore really gets high technology

[David Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

Love to publish a similar appraisal of other candidates djf

> Published Sunday, October 3, 1999, in the San Jose Mercury News
> ------------------------------------------------------------
>
> PAUL LIPPE
>
> Gore really gets high technology
>
>
> By Paul Lippe
>
> IMAGINE that you are a board member of this wonderful enterprise called the
> United States of America, appointed to a search committee to select the
> next president.  And now you're asked to evaluate the candidates for
> president the same way a Silicon Valley company selects its CEO, by looking
> at a set of objective criteria that you think are reasonable predictors of
> success in the job.
>
> Let's see how Vice President Al Gore would stack up.
>
> 1. Al Gore gets it.  Long before most people in Washington of either party,
> Gore recognized there was a difference between potato chips and computer
> chips. Gore has been a supporter of Silicon Valley and the New Economy for
> over 20 years.
>
> While it was an unfortunate choice of words to say he "invented" the
>  >>Internet<<, the truth is that Al Gore was one of the first to support the
>  >>Internet<<'s development and ensure that the first $8 billion of
>  >>Internet<< infrastructure was built.
>
> He has put in the time and effort to understand Silicon Valley and how what
> we do will affect the broader society.
>
> 2. Gore has the courage of his convictions. Gore is a Vietnam vet; he could
> have avoided service like many others did, but he went willingly. A decade
> ago, Gore led the effort to draw attention to global warming, even though
> it was  politically risky. He has taken pro-business positions that were
> unpopular with the left wing of the Democratic party, and pro-environment
> positions that were unpopular with business.
>
> 3. Gore has a track record of execution. Gore has been a driving force
> behind the economic policies of the Clinton-Gore administration that have
> given us the best economy in our history. Thanks to Clinton-Gore's policy
> of balanced fiscal policy, open trade, investment in education and
> infrastructure, and support for R&D, the United States has created 19
> million new jobs (twice the number created during the Reagan-Bush years),
> and moved 6 million people from welfare to work in the last six years.
>
> 4. It makes sense to put someone in charge who values the job. The
> Republican Party for the last 20 years has almost always argued for
> shrinking the role of the federal government. This is an interesting
> ideological position, and sometimes correct, but no matter which party
> holds the presidency, the federal government will remain roughly 20 percent
> of the entire economy. In Silicon Valley we would not think of putting a
> CEO in charge of eBay who didn't believe in online auctions, or a CEO of
> Intel who didn't have passion for the ability of microprocessors to improve
> people's lives.
>
> 5. Al Gore will maintain balance within Washington. Today, Republicans
> control both Houses of Congress and Republican-nominated justices
> constitute a majority of the Supreme Court. If Bush is elected, the
> Republicans would likely dominate all three branches of government.
>
> Today's Republican agenda is dominated by prayer in schools, extreme tax
> cuts and blocking gun control.
>
> Gore's positions are much closer to Silicon Valley's on non-economic
> issues. Gore has cast critical votes to limit assault weapons and protect
> wilderness and open space and fight sprawl. He favors a woman's right to
> choose. He has taken strong positions to expand access to health care for
> the uninsured.  He recognizes the need to protect >>privacy<<.
>
> 6. Gore will maintain balance between Washington and Silicon Valley. My
> Republican friends say that Gore isn't 100 percent down the line for
> Silicon Valley, pointing to Y2K litigation reform or >>encryption<<. Why do
> they think it is the role of the president of the United States to simply
> check off every item on Silicon Valley's shopping list?
>
> Sophisticated systems thinkers in Silicon Valley recognize we are best
> served by maintaining balance and equilibrium.
>
> Gore is with us when it counts. Gore has led the fight -- within the
> Democratic Party and for seven years as vice president -- for market- and
> innovation-friendly initiatives that are important to Silicon Valley.
> Making the R&D tax credit permanent, export control reform, H-1B visa
> increases, securities law reform, a moratorium on >>Internet<< taxation,
> finding a compromise on >>encryption<< are all issues where Gore has led
> the way.
>
> 7. Gore has absolute integrity. For most of the last seven years, the main
> criticism leveled against Al Gore was that he was dull. Cool. The man is a
> model of probity. Married for 30 years, four kids, twenty-five of
> unquestioned integrity in public life, Gore represents the best in America.
>
> If we judge the candidates in the same way that a Silicon Valley board
> would select a CEO -- on the basis of experience, track record, true
> leadership, fitness for the job, and predicted performance -- it's clear
> that Al Gore gets the nod.
>
>
>
> Paul Lippe is a senior vice president of Synopsys, a Silicon Valley
> software company, and a member of TechNet. The views expressed in this
> article are his own.