Laurene Powell Jobs has Washington D.C.’s attention

13 years ago

“Two years after the death of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, his widow, Laurene Powell Jobs, is stepping more visibly onto the national political stage — and generating buzz in Washington, D.C., about her future,” Michelle Quinn reports for Politico. “After dropping in on lawmakers late last year, Jobs has become a regular visitor to Capitol Hill to press for immigration reform, meeting last month with GOP leaders, including House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.). She’s also weighed in on the current shutdown turmoil in Washington, offering support for the president’s approach to the budget battle and Obamacare in a recently released video. And she has been an active Democratic donor and player for other political causes.”

“Her evolution from a quiet supporting player in the shadow of her charismatic husband to a public figure willing to speak out about hot-button issues is especially notable, given Steve Jobs’s purported contempt for politicians and the political process. And while she’s just beginning to embrace a more prominent role and has largely kept to tightly controlled appearances, Washington is taking notice,” Quinn reports. “‘The word has gone out: If she wants a meeting with you, you meet with her,’ said Frank Luntz, a GOP pollster who has done immigration reform focus groups and surveys on behalf of Laurene Powell Jobs. ‘She is known on the Hill… The only thing that Senate Democrats and House Republicans have in common is a good relationship with Laurene.'”

“Along with her increasing profile on policy matters, Jobs also has landed some press coverage amid rumors she’s been spending time with former Washington Mayor Adrian Fenty, now an adviser to Andreessen Horowitz, the Silicon Valley venture capital firm,” Quinn reports. “Described by Forbes as the richest woman in Silicon Valley with an estimated net worth of $11.7 billion, Jobs has been a behind-the-scenes advocate for education reform for years… It was her work with College Track kids that led her to campaign for the DREAM Act, a longtime proposal in Congress to provide a path to citizenship for undocumented youth.”

Quinn reports, “She has also given to the president and a smattering of Democratic campaign committees and candidates nationally, according to Center for Responsive Politics’ OpenSecrets.org website. This year, she gave $2,600 to Newark Mayor Cory Booker, a Democrat running for Senate, and attended a fundraiser at the home of venture capitalist John Doerr for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.). In January, she joined her friend Ron Conway, another leading Silicon Valley investor, to help raise money for the anti-gun violence group, Americans for Responsible Solutions.”

Read more in the full article here.

[Thanks to MacDailyNews readers too numerous to mention individually for the heads up.]