PayPal's billionaire co-founder Peter Thiel has become increasingly influential among the Libertarian-leaning Republican Party members, becoming the go-to guy on business and technology issues, according to a new exclusive interview conducted by Mercury News.
"Our political system does not work all that well to support the areas of science and technology," Thiel said in an hour-long interview with Mercury News. "Theoretically there is a role for the government, but if it's hard to get the website for the Affordable Care Act to work, how are you going to win the war on cancer?"
"Silicon Valley is just one of the few places in the U.S. that is just booming," he added. "So the question (politicians) have is: 'What can I learn from it?'"
Thiel donated 2.6 million to Ron Paul's 2012 presidential campaign and is expected to back Sen. Rand Paul in 2016, and has also contributed to the campaings of Rep. Kevin McCarthy, Sen. Ted Cruz and nearly 50 other Republican candidates.
According to Derek Khanna, a fellow at Yale Law School, Thiel has "been a strong benefit to the Republican Party in trying to get them to embrace a more technology-friendly direction. There are starting to be a lot of Republicans who are taking technology innovation seriously, and Peter Thiel has had a lot to do with that."
Thiel said he wants to help build a new generation of startups that are more bold, along with a new generational Republican Party that embraces technology and innovation. A few issues Thiel mentioned include seeing Uber allowed to operate freely, Tesla selling cars directly to consumers, and biotech startups escaping the Food and Drugs Administration's overreaching influence. More generally, Thiel said he wants to help "foster more technological and scientific progress in our society," giving cancer research as an example for a field that's made few advances in the last four decades.
"Strategists say Thiel can use his influence on lawmakers to push for regulation that doesn't stifle innovation and immigration laws that make it easier for tech companies to hire," said Mercury News.
But while he's considered a thought leader amongst conservative politicians, many who stop by his office for advice, ideas, and an endorsement check, Thiel says he "would never run for office."
According to Core Cook, a professor of American politics at the University of San Francisco, Thiel offers the GOP a valuable doorway to a typically Democratic stronghold: Silicon Valley.
"This is about the Republicans cultivating a donor base and an industry base," Cook told Mercury News. "They are trying to get a toehold in Silicon Valley."
