With Senator Barack Obama as the presumptive 2008 Democratic Presidential nominee, now is an interesting time to examine his policy positions on the Internet and the growing political influence of electronic retailing. Interestingly, Obama has received relatively little of his funding from the traditional fundraising bulwarks, telecom service providers. Senator Hillary Clinton raised the most money from telecom service providers, coming in with a little more than half-a- million dollars*. Even so, in a strong demonstration of the growing political power of the Internet industry, contributions by the Internet and software industry were higher for Clinton, Obama and McCain than each of their corresponding totals in the telecom services industry*. Senator Obama alone has received $2.7 million from the Internet and software industry*. These donations come from industry PACs, as well as from donations by employees and their families, and include contributions from software developers.

Obama’s fundraising potential in the Internet industry is definitely linked to the strong policy stances. His campaign website includes a section on the importance of “protecting the openness of the Internet” by preventing network providers from charging fees “to privilege the content of applications of some websites and Internet applications over others.” He has voiced his stance on Net Neutrality in a podcast that is featured on his website. It is by no means clear who will be the next president, but it is certain the influence of the Internet industry is increasingly significant in Washington.

Tomi Turner works in ERA’s government affairs department

*Center for Responsive Politics

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