McCain Tech Policy — A First Reaction

[Commentary] Sen John McCain's campaign had a huge task before it. With people laughing about his computer illiteracy the night before he was to release his long-awaited technology plan, the campaign needed a winner to counter a plan offered months ago from its main rival, Sen Barack Obama. No such luck. The policy proposal is a joke. It reads like some crotchety technophobe knocked over the bumper sticker wrack at an Ayn Rand Reading Revival and tried to rearrange them so it made a policy. Half of it isn't even particularly tech specific.The statements that aren't useless generalities ("America Must Educate Its Workforce For The Innovation Age") are either contradictory or make no sense. But what really astounds Feld is that after two years of campaigning, with less than 3 months until the general election, McCain suddenly realized that telecom and technology are multibillion dollar industries -- infrastructure absolutely critical to our economic development, job creation, national security, education, healthcare, oh heck, just about every aspect of our life these days -- and that wouldn't it be nice to have a policy. This is ready from Day 1? While Barack Obama is reaching out to a new generation of voters through text messaging and social networking, was hailed by Techcrunch back in January as the candidate who "put more time and thought into his digital/technology policies than any other candidate," McCain has only just figured out he needs an actual policy for this stuff?