The Republican National Committee isn’t backing away from its support for Uber despite the car service’s recent hiring of President Obama’s former campaign manager.
“Even top Dems admit that ride-sharing can benefit all Americans,” RNC Chairman Reince Priebus tweeted Monday. Priebus touted the decision by Democratic Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn to veto new regulations on the service backed by the rival taxi cab industry.
{mosads}Republicans have promoted their support for the Silicon Valley start-up, hoping to attract more young voters to the party’s free-market message.
Earlier this month the RNC launched a petition backing Uber over “taxi unions and liberal government bureaucrats.”
Uber turned to a top Democrat last week, hiring David Plouffe, Obama’s 2008 campaign manager, as senior vice president of policy and strategy as the company battles regulators across the country.
“I look forward to doing what I can right now to ensure drivers and riders are not denied their opportunity for choice in transportation due to those who want to maintain a monopoly and play the inside game to deny opportunity to those on the outside,” Plouffe wrote.
The San Francisco-based company updated its blog with a series of quotes from top Democrats praising the company’s hire of Plouffe, including Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and former Obama adviser David Axelrod.
“It’s the perfect marriage: You have the smartest strategist I have ever met, with one of the most innovative companies in America,” said Jim Messina, Obama’s 2012 campaign manager.
Priebus on Monday called support for Uber a “bipartisan issue.”