At this point, it seems like the Republican presidential primaries have been going on forever. While President Obama automatically has the Democratic nomination for this November, there have been endless debates between the various Republican candidates. As the actual primary process started, the field narrowed quite a bit — but it all seems to keep going on, especially when many politicos assumed that Mitt Romney would have the nomination sealed after just one or two primaries.
It’s tempting to ignore what’s going on in the Republican party right now. Even coming down after a mammoth coding session sounds like a lot more fun than trying to pay attention to a process that seems repetitive at best.
But this year’s presidential election is going to be a particularly crucial one. Not only will whoever actually is elected (or re-elected) president shape the path this country is taking on issues like entrepreneurship an freedom of information, but the candidates are going to spend a lot more time than usual talking technology. While SOPA has been tabled indefinitely, there is other legislation that will impact online businesses coming up for votes during this election cycle. Each of the Republican candidates denounced SOPA to some degree, but that may just be a starting point. There are laws about privacy, internet access and even sales tax on online sales coming up that can fundamentally impact a startup.
Knowing what’s going on in politics — and taking action about the issues you care about — is crucial to any entrepreneur. Small changes in policy can mean the difference between a company bringing in a respectable income and a company going broke. But in technology, where legislation struggles to keep up with new advances, staying up to speed on politics reaches a whole new level of importance.
Image by Flickr user Dave Delay
