Matt Stoller, the most intense of the pro-regulation, net neutrality advocates, crowed after the un-democratic Iowa caucus. Net Neutrality Wins Iowa:
Right now the telecom lobbyists that control the Republican Party and the Clinton wing of the Democratic Party should be extremely worried. On Thursday, they were soundly thumped in the most important caucus of the year, in both parties.
If that were true, then surely the New Hampshire victories for Clinton and McCain must be the death-knell of the regulation he desires. CNN’s Ann Broache nails it in fine piece on the distinct lack of passion New Hampshirites have for obscure technical regulation, New Hampshire voters: Net neutrality? Huh?
At a booth across the chrome-accented restaurant, Kelly Parsons, 32, cradled her infant son, Christian, and admitted she’d never heard of Net neutrality either. Parsons professed to be reasonably tech-savvy but said technology policy issues had nothing to do with her decision to support Mitt Romney. Illegal immigration and terrorism were among her top concerns for the next president to confront.
Stoller famously ranked net neutrality as the number one issue for the Democrats in Congress following their takeover of the House, ahead of wages, health care, the environment, or Iraq:
On the one hand, we have no legislative agenda except for net neutrality. Since we locked that down as an important issue before the election, our chances are pretty good (though it’s not by any means a slam dunk. This means that we are free to pick our fights, flexible, and not bogged down by a long list of people to satisfy. We can ride public opinion to get what we want, with agility and intelligence.
New Hampshire voters clearly don’t share his agenda, nor do Democrats generally.