Journey of a Capital Insider From Hill To Valley (Newt Gingrich's Point Man)

The Washington Post ^ | June 3, 2008 | Jose Antonio Vargas

[RDTF]

WOODSIDE, Calif. -- Here, he's from another planet. Here in Silicon Valley, David Kralik is, let's face it, some strange import. That's why he's attracting such buzz one recent afternoon inside Buck's, the legendary eatery, while lunching on a pulled-pork sandwich.

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Yep, that's Kralik. A lifelong Republican in the land of liberal Democrats. Who relocated from uptight, Brooks Brothers Washington. And works for Newt Gingrich.

Then after giving an abbreviated history of Buck's (Hotmail, Netscape, PayPal, et al., scribbled their first business plans here; Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison and Al Gore stop by sometimes), MacNiven goes for the kill: "You seem like a nice person, so take my advice," he tells Kralik. "Lie about your politics, and you'll come to the right -- oops, the left-- thinking in time."

Kralik is silent, smiling so tightly his jaw looks as if it's going to fall off. Speechless is not a state he's usually in. Outside Buck's a few minutes later, he says it wasn't the first time he's heard the slight. Won't be the last. "I just shrug it off," says the 28-year-old. "It's not about Republican or Democrat, conservative or liberal. I'm here to learn."

Kralik is a probe of sorts, a vanguard of a small but growing Washington consensus that the federal government -- not just its elected officials but also its middle bureaucrats -- can learn from Silicon Valley's ethos. Its creative, entrepreneurial drive. Its consumer-driven, my-product-is-better-than-your-product spirit. Its technological know-how.

Once a House page when Gingrich was speaker, Kralik is now director of Internet strategy for Gingrich's new "tripartisan" nonprofit, American Solutions for Winning the Future. The group aims to move beyond partisanship and tackle issues -- government accountability, education, etc. -- with the help of the Internet

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