Flashbulbs crackled, bureaucrats beamed, and reporters scribbled as California Governor Gray Davis signed the "eight-hour workday" bill into law Tuesday morning in Sacramento.
Meanwhile, Silicon Valley bosses rumbled with reproach. And made their plans.
"This is exactly the sort of political decision that is about politics as usual and not about the real needs of the mainstream majority," said Mark Pincus, founder of software company Tioga. "And that’s why I started EParty, the alternative lobby for the mainstream."
According to Pincus, laws like the eight-hour bill create the need for a grassroots organization like EParty. The bill mandates overtime pay for anyone working beyond eight hours, a situation that some believe will wreak havoc with the ad hoc work arrangements typical of Silicon Valley start-ups.
Pincus founded EParty six months ago with three other Bay Area professionals. "The concept of EParty is that it is an alternative to hyper-specialized lobby groups, with just one political agenda, like, say, the NRA," said Pincus.
EParty, which is in the process of building its Web site and recruiting members, will rely on its board of directors to propose the issue to be opposed or supported at a given time. A majority vote by the general membership puts the issue on the platform; a two-third's vote can overturn a position later on.
"It's a great egalitarian use of the medium of the Internet," said Tony Sherman, EParty's executive director, a real-estate broker-turned-Net-entrepreneur who runs IT machines. "The Internet is the perfect vehicle for the promotion of democracy."
EParty’s long-term goal is to try and raise US$50 million by recruiting 5 million members at $10 a head -- an amount that translates into pretty heavy clout.
If that sounds like dreaming, consider the recent success of another online lobby, MoveOn.org, born out of a desire to compel politicians to "move on" following the impeachment campaign against President Clinton. In just five days between 25 and 30 June, MoveOn raised $250,000 in pledges to support its list of candidates currently running for office.
"Because costs are so low, we can support low dollar amount contributions from the broadest group of ordinary citizens and actually give the contributions to the candidates and not the post office," said Wes Boyd, co-founder of MoveOn.org.
According to Boyd, MoveOn has over 500,000 members and has garnered $13 million in total pledges.
That provides enough clout to rub shoulders with similar, but higher profile lobbying groups, like Technology Network. And even though Tech Net's executive board twinkles with Silicon Valley luminaries, that doesn’t mean they’re any more effective. In fact, according to EParty’s Pincus, Tech Net is beginning to display some of the same stodgy narrow-mindedness of conventional political lobbies.
"I sent them an email asking why they didn’t take up the cause against the eight-hour workday bill, and they sent back a response, saying in effect, 'We have a set agenda of issues, and we pick the ones we feel certain we can win,'" said Pincus. "They want to preserve their image of being on the winning side."
A spokeswoman for Tech Net was quick to deny Pincus' assessment.
"Tech Net has taken on some really tough issues and opponents, like the trial lawyers' lobby, over the issue of uniform national standards for securities litigation," said Molly Knott. "We want to focus on issues that are of broad, critical importance to the industry."
