Why Barack Obama is losing support from Silicon Valley

WASHINGTON / SEATTLE: Presidential candidate Barack Obama, his Blackberry is always at hand, was the darling of the world of technology and rewarded him with generous donations to his 2008 campaign.

Although raising money is still far beyond current Republican rival, Mitt Romney, Obama is meeting in 2012 in Silicon Valley to be tougher terrain.

He lags behind in his 2008 campaign donations from employees on the Internet, computer and telecommunications equipment powers such as Google, IBM, Hewlett Packard and Cisco, according to a Reuters analysis of federal disclosure committee Obama's presidential campaign.

The Obama campaign has raised $ 1.44 million to employees May 15 high-tech companies, compared to $ 1.6 million donated by the staff of these companies four years ago.

Romney, a former private equity executive, is making inroads as a source of cash for Obama, which some see as the leaders of anti-technology businesses due to uncertainty blame the regulatory reform Dodd-Frank financial and health care reform. Both laws were driven by the Obama administration and enacted in 2010.

Romney's support for extending the tax cuts of the Bush era for the rich and free trade credentials also ingratiate himself with some Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, even though he worry about igniting a trade war with China on value of its currency.

Romney has raised nearly $ 340,000 during this election campaign staff of 15 technology companies, "far behind his opponent, but ahead of the nearly $ 240,000 that the Republican presidential candidate John McCain took until May 2008.

Obama's message following the economic crisis has faced some on Wall Street and Silicon Valley. The late president of Apple, Steve Jobs, said Obama would not win a second term without being more favorable to business, according to biographer Walter Isaacson Jobs.

And co-founder Marc Andreessen of Netscape Romney has changed after doing the last time Obama.

"In 2008, the Obama administration looked the best game in town," said industry analyst Roger L. technology Kay. "Fast forward a few years more and see a lot of disappointment."

After years of slow economic growth and persistent unemployment, Romney has turned to a simple recipe to maintain the proper functioning of the technology sector: deregulation, tax cuts, and bolder protection against piracy in China.

"Romney can talk about the game of technology better than Obama. Romney was a (venture capitalist)," said John Backus, a venture capitalist who worked for Romney in private equity firm Bain Capital.

"I do not think Romney wins the valley, but it will increase its share of the cake of a substantial donation."

While the numbers are small, Romney glide past rival among a group that is vital to the world of technology. It has raised $ 392,300 through April of venture capitalists, about $ 20,000 more than Obama, according to federal disclosures compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics.

Obama has attracted nearly $ 3 million from the IT industry and the Internet so far this campaign, Romney left behind with just under $ 1,000,000 collected in the same period, according to the PCR. The figures do not include donations from the telecommunications industry.