Though the rise of the "sharing economy" irks San Francisco progressives and labor unions, regulation-averse Silicon Valley companies are popular with the mainstream Democratic Party.
Obama campaign architect David Plouffe now works for Uber, Lyft has hired former House Democratic leader Dick Gephardt's lobbying firm, and Airbnb has brought on longtime Bill Clinton advisor Chris Lehane.
Airbnb is also bringing out Democratic Party heavy-hitters for its $8 million attempt to defeat Proposition F. Among the political consultants on Airbnb's payroll are Joe Slade White, a longtime advisor of Vice President Joe Biden, who has hired the voiceover actor from Obama's 2008 "hope and change" campaign for No on F ads; Obama's go-to polling mastermind David Binder; and campaign manager Nicole Derse, the 41st person to join Obama's campaign in 2007, whose consulting firm ran Cory Booker's successful Senate bid in New Jersey.
"We have the best field operation in the country right now — staffed by former union staff and Obama alum — who are squarely focused on getting out our vote," says No on Prop. F campaign spokesman Patrick Hannan.
Whether all that hope and change-y juju will translate into votes supporting a global corporation reportedly worth $25 billion remains to be seen, but Airbnb has a good argument to make that its business practices are age-old Democratic values. After all, when Bill Clinton rented out the Lincoln Bedroom in exchange for campaign cash, wasn't he just participating in home-sharing?
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