Since ending their MPAA days, @paulbrigner has done some good things for digital freedoms at the Internet Society, among other venues. They are a strong, professional communicator.
Now, Paul wants to have the agency to allocate Zcash community ZEC and provide community endorsement - not only make requests, like for DC political outreach - while presently working for a private company (ZODL) endowed by huge USA Republican (and additionally, POTUS Donald Trump vanity project) donors.
To quote myself in the most recent ZCG request Paul put forth:
People here are advocating courting favor with and legitimizing a racist and violent regime, on behalf of the whole community, and using community resources to this end.
I think this is, to put it quite mildly, distasteful, and a potential strategic misstep. Paul (and some other important community figures) seem to think it’s fine to lobby and use typical means to this end, like plating expensive dinners in front of VIPs, using Zcash community funds and branding.
I would expect this type of thing to get a carte blanche in the future if they were elected: the blurring and management of interests would deepen.
Paul claims they have perspectives independent of conflicts of interest. But who would believe that?
As a default, I don’t trust skilled professional communicators working inside the Beltway encircling Washington DC, on the payroll of billionaires.
I definitely don’t trust them to impartially allocate funds and endorse projects on behalf of a distributed and diverse community.