WWCMD?

We’re about a month away from the presidential elections. Each day the stock market seems to find a new low as we watch the fallout from the deregulation of the financial markets. In turn, telecom/tech is taking a licking. For now, it keeps on ticking.

No newsflash here – many people in our industry tend toward the conservative. I wonder, though, has the tipping point come? Is the competitive community tired enough of eight years of Michael Powell and Kevin Martin wantonly un-writing the ’96 Telecom Act that it will take a chance on Obama?

I think so. I talked with several people this week at the COMPTEL show in Orlando who said they can’t take the Republicans' anti-competition policies anymore. They see little hope of improvement under a McCain administration. Even Mississippi Republican Chip Pickering denounced his party’s treatment of telecom, and he wasn’t soft about it (read even more here). I think there comes a time when the threat of losing one’s livelihood – a whole sector, even – outweighs the fear of voting differently than ever before.

So I ask you, What Will COMPTEL Members Do? Vote party line and risk the paycheck, or take a chance on someone dedicated to competitive policies?