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Google Greasing Politicians in DC

Google, the company that everyone thought was going to be different, has decided to play, or pay, big in DC:

Google has hired politically connected lobbying firms and consultants with ties to Republican leaders like the party chairman, Ken Mehlman; Speaker J. Dennis Hastert; and Senator John McCain; and advisers say the company may set up a fund-raising arm for political donations to candidates. And in a town where Republicans hold the levers of power, Google has begun stockpiling pieces of the party's machine.

Google has traditionally been left leaning in their donations. This move must make Jack Abramoff happy.

- Y! MyWeb

well, they are a real

well, they are a real company now. This is unsurprising and would have be a grave error not to try and get friendly people.

By ukgimp at Mar 28 2006 - 15:26

Fascism

When corporations and governments forge profitable cooperations.

The most enslaved man is he who thinks he is free.

By hopeseekr at Mar 28 2006 - 17:19

fascism is a bit far dont

fascism is a bit far dont you think.

side note, that is a pretty lady on that link, she can enslave me :-)

By ukgimp at Mar 28 2006 - 17:25

gimpy

...you need to get out more.

By caveman at Mar 28 2006 - 17:41

Good for them

Gimp is right. You gotta dance with people on both sides of the aisle if you want to get anything done. Smart business, nothing more.

By pleeker at Mar 28 2006 - 18:08

Republicans? I guess they

Republicans?

I guess they are big business, aren't they? Goes against the "Do no evil, we're a peace loving, granola crunching' facade they have cultivated with the media, though.

By grnidone at Mar 28 2006 - 18:15

sounds to me like making

sounds to me like making money is evil :-)

Cavy Wavy, i try, but it is difficult :-)

By ukgimp at Mar 28 2006 - 18:37

They are big business

Both Republicans and Democrats are big business, so you better be playing both sides. Anyone who thinks otherwise is naive or an idealogue.

By Kirby at Mar 28 2006 - 20:48

wow...

Drive by statements on SEO and Internet business are ok on ThreadWatch, but on socio-economic and political topics is just seems so.... stupid. Most of us spend a good deal of time analyzing the status quo (in search) and attempting to predict the future. Why so little similar effort on politics and social studies?

Big Business + stupidity = real problems. Anybody want to argue that?

I think the issue here is Google (search company) doing something (news) that appears (editorial) to be contradictory with their past activities (news). It may hint (editorial) at changes in how they act in the future (analysis + news). Thanks Aaron for that post.

By John Andrews at Mar 28 2006 - 21:46

more info...

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2006/3/28/115119.shtml

Last year Google hired the bipartisan lobbying firm Podesta Mattoon, whose lobbyists include Daniel Mattoon, a Republican and longtime friend of House Speaker Dennis Hastert, and Lauren Maddox, a former top aide to Newt Gingrich.

Now it has also brought in the DCI Group, which has strong ties to presidential adviser Karl Rove. Its Senior Vice President Stuart Roy is a former aide to Rep. Tom DeLay, The New York Times reports.

Google’s move to cozy up to influential Republicans is a sharp turnaround for the company – in the 2004 election cycle, Google employees gave Democrats 99 percent of their campaign contributions, NewsMax reported earlier.

By seobook at Mar 29 2006 - 04:07

If there's a reason

that I'm underwhelmed by this news (and I agree, well done Aaron) ... it's that I so long ago stopped thinking of G as anything other than just another mega successful, large cap, slight-of-hand company, that this is not only no surprise, I assumed these elements of their corporate strategy were already long since in place, and well established. :/ Usually the deals with NASA, etc, come after the lobbyists get hired.

By caveman at Mar 29 2006 - 05:51