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Techies Taking Political Power From Hollywood Heroes

by Warren Riddle on September 28, 2009 at 02:17 PM


The realm of politics has long been a haven for aging California celebrities, including Ronald Reagan, Clint Eastwood, Sonny Bono, and, of course, the "Governator" Arnold Schwarzenegger. Since the beginning of the new millennium, though, another faction of well-known California personalities has been encroaching on that political domain.

Instead of celluloid celebrities, the new group consists of cyber-celebs, as more and more Silicon Valley tech superstars upload their names into the political database. According to CNN, perhaps the most well known of the burgeoning geek brigade is Meg Whitman, former eBay CEO. Whitman plans to run for Governor in 2010, and, further demonstrating the political shift, will run against a fellow techie, start-up entrepreneur Steve Poizner, in the Republican primary.

Joining Whitman and Poizner as poli-techies are former Facebook executive Chris Kelly, former eBay exec Steve Westly, and former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina. It seems from some of the ads and slogans, though, that the new geek order still has much to learn in the way of catchy slogans and effective campaign tactics. So, perhaps Whitman, with her experience selling used goods to the public, can come up with something a little more polished, and significantly less cheesy, than Fiorina's incredibly lame "Carlyfornia Dreaming!" [From: CNN]

Tags: business, california, ceo, corporate, ebay, facebook, government, hewlett-packard, politics, top

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