Why it matters that one of the most powerful Republicans in tech backs Hillary Clinton
There are few Republicans with a Silicon Valley background more powerful than Meg Whitman.
The current CEO of Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Chairwoman of Hewlett Packard and former CEO of eBay, Whitman is also a political force, having pursued her own ambitions of becoming governor of California.
Now, she's with her.
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Whitman issued a strong rebuke of Republican nominee Donald Trump and voiced her support for Hillary Clinton on Tuesday night, adding that she's going to be pushing other Republicans to support the Democratic candidate.
And not just that, she's going to be pushing her wealthy friends to donate to Clinton's campaign.
"I will talk to my Republican friends about helping her, and I will donate to her campaign and try to raise money for her," Whitman told the New York Times in a phone interview.
As for Trump, she had some choice words as well, calling him a "dangerous demagogue" who has "undermined the character of the nation."
Whitman is not a fence-sitting moderate. In her political career, she has not shied away from criticizing President Barack Obama and firmly supported Mitt Romney in the last election. She ran for governor of California in 2010 as a Republican, spending $140 million of her own money in a losing effort.
Most recently, she had been the co-chair of Chris Christie's finance team, back when he was running for president.
Whitman's endorsement doesn't just indicate that a certain section of the Republican party may vote for Clinton -- it highlights a shift in big-money donors that would otherwise be helping a relatively cash-strapped Trump campaign.
Beyond Whitman, it's possible for Republican donors to give money to Clinton without having to admit doing so.
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Whitman is also one of a growing group of Republican women who have gone beyond distancing themselves from Trump to actively supporting Clinton.
Trump is polling poorly with women, logging a 69 percent "unfavorable" response in the most recent Washington Post-ABC poll.
So far, women have led the way in jumping ship from the Trump campaign, but Whitman's power in the party led to immediate speculation that others could follow.
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Whitman's support also questions whether others in the tech community are also ready to ditch the Republican party and support clinton.
Silicon Valley is regarded as leaning left, but does have its share of Republican supporters. The most vocal in support of Donald Trump has been Peter Thiel, the billionaire venture capitalist who sits on Facebook's board of directors with Marc Andreessen, another major venture capitalist who is also a GOP supporter and donor.
A look at Andreessen's Twitter account, however, shows that he doesn't seem to be too keen on Trump.
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Whitman's support may help Clinton with powerful Republicans, but it probably will not sway the polls, since she's not necessarily a household name. Clinton, however, may not need the poll bump.
Since the end of the Democratic convention, FiveThirtyEight's forecast has turned sharply for Clinton after Trump took a small lead. If anything, Whitman's support removes another key pillar that might have helped Trump raise money, as well as a voice that could have helped him with women voters.
Topics Donald Trump Elections
Jason Abbruzzese is a Business Reporter at Mashable. He covers the media and telecom industries with a particular focus on how the Internet is changing these markets and impacting consumers. Prior to working at Mashable, Jason served as Markets Reporter and Web Producer at the Financial Times. Jason holds a B.S. in Journalism from Boston University and an M.A. in International Affairs from Australian National University.
