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Tech Billionaires Launch Political Group Called WTF to Change Democratic Party

Chuck Schumer, left, and Nancy Pelosi / Getty Images
July 5, 2017

Internet entrepreneurs Mark Pincus and Reid Hoffman have started a political "network" to rethink the Democratic Party and push it "more in touch with mainstream America" following President Donald Trump's election.

Pincus, the co-founder of Zynga, and Hoffman, the co-founder of LinkedIn, both Silicon Vally billionaires, teamed up to create Win the Future, or WTF for short, a new political platform where people can vote on policy topics that are important to them, Recode reported.

"We need a modern people's lobby that empowers all of us to choose our leaders and set our agenda," Pincus wrote on WTF's website. "Imagine voting for a president we're truly excited about. Imagine a government that promotes capitalism and civil rights."

"Our goal is to aggregate our voices and money around the issues that we want to top our government's agenda," the site states. "We want to turn that agenda into electoral wins and an overall mandate for our country."

The campaign will primarily occur on Twitter, where participants can submit their own proposals. If the idea earns enough likes and retweets, then it will become a part of WTF's agenda.

"We're using Twitter so anyone can propose, vote up, and engage with campaigns that they care most about," WTF's website reads.

Pincus had been working on a "web-based coalition" to "give a voice and choice to the people" since 2003, but his idea did not gain traction until Trump was elected president in November. Hoffman and Adam Werbach, the former president of the climate-focused Sierra Club, met several times after the election to plot out what their new group would look like.

"The first weeks of the Trump presidency have confirmed our fears," Werbach wrote in a Jan. 29 email obtained by Recode. "This list is long: banning Muslims from 7 countries, green lighting the keystone and Dakota access pipeline, defunding affordable healthcare, removing all mention of climate change from the White House website. He's moving quickly, and we need to move quickly as well."

The trio also feared that the Democratic Party was becoming disconnected from voters and needed a new message.

"I think it's nearly certain that it hasn't learned the lessons of 2016 yet," Hoffman told Recode, referring to the Democratic Party. "There are some very great voices ... But as an overall whole, as a party, I think they're, frankly, still getting their act together on presenting a coherent view of the future that they want to build to."

"I'm fearful the Democratic Party is already moving too far to the left," Pincus said. "I want to push the Democratic Party to be more in touch with mainstream America, and on some issues, that's more left, and on some issues it might be more right."

WTF is also seeking political outsiders to run for office as "WTF Democrats."

Pincus has targeted Third Eye Blind band member Stephan Jenkins as a potential candidate. The two met recently, according to Recode.

Third Eye Blind made headlines in July 2016 when the band held its own charity concert during the Republican National Convention and called Republicans bigots. Jenkins went on a rant during the concert and at one point asked the crowd, "Who believes in science?"

"We can't wait until elections to fight for what we care about. We can't hope for a benevolent leader who may choose to listen to us," Pincus said. "We need to create a modern people's lobby and choose our own leaders."

Pincus and Hoffman have contributed $500,000 to build their project. They have the support of Jeffrey Katzenberg, a major Democratic donor and former chairman of Disney, as well as venture capitalists Fred Wilson and Sunil Paul.