In a beautiful bit of serendipity, the Washington Post and the New York Times today both have pieces on the lobbying power of high-profile, home-grown industries. The first, from the Post, highlights a speech given yesterday by Google CEO Eric Schmidt and the headline tells it all: “Google Still Searching For Recognition in D.C.”
Schmidt was in town to give a keynote to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Although Schmidt’s visit was a far sight better than when Sergey Brin wandered the halls of Congress and all anybody noticed was what the young billionaire was wearing, Google has a long way to go to wielding power in this freaky town. One audience member even asked Schmidt a question about problems with Microsoft Outlook.
On the other hand, Hollywood, which has perfected the rituals and rites and kabuki steps that lead to wins in Washington, had a grand DC dog-and-pony show Tuesday, according to the Times piece (which features a happy picture of studio mogul Brad Grey grasping the shoulder of powerful Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) in a warm greeting). Will Smith was there and Clint Eastwood was there. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Senator Christopher Dodd (D-CA) and Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) attended an evening reception.
Although the studios came in for a few knocks during the day, the event turned into a love-fest between Congress and Hollywood.
More typical of the day, however, was Representative Charles Rangel, the new Ways and Means chairman, promising to press the Bush administration to take a tougher line in trade talks with Russia, China and other countries concerning rampant piracy or barriers to Hollywood movies.
And then there was Senator Patrick J. Leahy, Democrat of Vermont, vowing to press the Justice Department to do more about piracy — moments before rushing over to the actor James Cromwell and complimenting his performance as Prince Philip in “The Queen.”
It’s not really fair to compare any industry to the MPAA when it comes to lobbying power. Not only does the trade association have access to all the movie stars, but it mastered the secrets of successful spin-and-win under the long reign of super-lobbyist Jack Valenti, and is still basking in the glow of forty years’ worth of good vibes. Google, which built its phenomenal business on objective and logical precepts of math and mass behavior, is still new to this totally irrational business of getting in good with lawmakers.
But, there’s no arguing that Google, along with the rest of Silicon Valley, is still climbing up the learning curve when it comes to navigating the corridors of power.
Cynthia Brumfield at 8:28 AM|Comments(0)
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