To conservatives, the chairman of the FCC is a regulatory zealot, bent on making the free market conform to a government-mandated vision.

To liberals, he’s a would-be champion who sold them out when the going got tough, watering down his landmark net neutrality proposal to appease the other side.

In many ways, he faces some of the same criticism from both sides that has plagued President Barack Obama, Genachowski’s law school buddy. In trying to strike the right balance in their policies, both men have managed to tick off their supporters as well as their detractors.

For his part, Genachowski takes it in stride. He’s withstood political heat over such issues as net neutrality, and new fires are just being lit for the agency’s review of the AT&T/T-Mobile deal.

The devil is, after all, in the details. Genachowski told POLITICO that the commission is fleshing those out, all while pushing a broader agenda that focuses on expanding broadband and freeing up new airwaves for wireless services — also two of Obama’s top tech priorities.

“When you think back to last year, no one was talking about broadband, no one was talking about the spectrum crunch,” he said. Those issues are now top drawer, thanks to Genachowski.

“I feel very good about it,” he added. “That doesn’t mean it’s done — we have a lot more work to do.”

Still, another signature priority — net neutrality — has been a thorn in Genachowski’s side. The FCC adopted rules requiring network operators to treat all Web traffic equally. Liberals wanted the order to go further. Conservatives thought the order went too far.

One of the first Republican moves since winning control of the House was a resolution of disapproval to roll back the FCC’s net neutrality rules. The resolution passed largely on party lines and would ultimately face a presidential veto if the Senate approves. But it sent a message.

“Rather than serving as an impartial expert and authority, the commission seems to be advancing a policy agenda of its own, often by twisting the arms of those who have come before it,” Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.), chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, said during the debate.

Genachowski prefers to focus on the issue that could define his tenure: extending high-speed Internet service to every corner of the country. To that end, he wants broadcasters to volunteer to give up some of their airwaves and auction them off to the highest bidder in the wireless industry. He also wants to reform a nearly $9 billion-a-year subsidy program to help build broadband networks in rural and low-income areas.

Both parties in Congress support those broader goals.

“It’s hard to get anything done in Washington, so that’s life,” he said. “But the bipartisan draw around this has been strong.”

Genachowski is an enthusiastic broadband booster, with some nicknaming him “Googlechowski.” In the face of criticism, he rarely shows any anger or frustration. Many in tech circles call him charming and outgoing.

“He knows the issues and is passionate about the long-term future of the country,” said Gary Shapiro, CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association. “To me, he’s one of the stars of the Obama appointees.”

But, Shapiro quickly added, he’s made some missteps.

“I wish he had not been so strong in the net neutrality area, and obviously that’s created baggage,” Shapiro said.

At the direction of Congress, the FCC released its first National Broadband Plan a year ago. Genachowski’s office has asked for public comment.

“The big complaint was … they seemed to be doing a lot of studies over there where they were just spinning their wheels and nothing ever happens,” said Harold Feld, legal director at Public Knowledge, a public interest group.

Genachowski contends that last year the commission was building up the policy skeleton, and now is the time to put on the regulatory muscle that will make it move.

This year, the commission voted to require wireless carriers to allow competitors to “roam” on their networks — long a goal of consumer advocates. The agency also made it easier to attach wireless equipment to power poles, which could speed up mobile broadband deployment. Now Genachowski is attempting to overhaul the Universal Service Fund — a nearly $9 billion pot of money that chairmen before him have tried –and failed — to reform.

Those issues may not grab the public’s attention, but in Genachowski’s view, they are the kind of nitty-gritty work the commission has to do to reach the broadband Holy Grail.

That work has also won him praise in the country’s technology epicenter: Silicon Valley.

Companies and investors banking on the mobile business applaud Genachowski’s effort to release more airwaves.

“There’s not a tech company today that’s not in mobile,” Ron Conway, an angel investor in Silicon Valley, told POLITICO. “He is an absolute breath of fresh air to the technology community.”

Genachowski took a hit from the left for taking what some view as wimpy stands on net neutrality and the Comcast-NBC Universal merger. He had the votes to go further on net neutrality, especially when Democrats controlled both chambers of Congress, but bowed to political pressure from the right.

“Instead of seeing himself as a rulemaker, he sees himself as a deal-broker,” said Craig Aaron, president and CEO of Free Press. The public interest group has been “frustrated and disappointed” by Genachowski’s chairmanship.

Recently, however, Genachowski has had a resurrection of sorts.

Feld, one of his most vocal critics, admits he may have been too harsh. “He seems to have learned a lot of political lessons.”

Now, Feld says, he seems much more “focused.”

The FCC now has another big issue to tackle: AT&T’s proposed $39 billion takeover of T-Mobile. Critics say the deal would lead to a duopoly of national wireless providers, which could raise prices and reduce competition.

“This really will prove to be a very major test of his tenure, especially because he says mobile is the future,” Aaron said.

Meanwhile, broadcasters wish Genachowski would just forget about them. They feel he has painted a target on their industry by hinging mobile broadband on them giving up a big chunk of their spectrum.

“We are in full battle mode to protect broadcasters from being forced to give up spectrum involuntarily,” Gordon Smith, president and CEO of the National Association of Broadcasters, said earlier this month.

Genachowski talks the talk but may never convince Republicans that he’s not an anti-business chairman.

“There are very important opportunities for public-private partnerships,” he said.

He added: “Keeping the Internet free and open for new entrepreneurs and small business is an opportunity creator.”

Genachowski doesn’t buy the left-right battle.

“It’s so easy to go to the extremes,” Genachowski said. “We don’t have to be talking about spectrum. We don’t have to be talking about transforming a $9-billion a year Universal Service Fund.”

Criticism comes with the territory, said former FCC Chairman Reed Hundt. Genachowski was one of Hundt’s legal advisers during the Clinton administration.

“More than any other chairman I can recall, including myself, he’s created his own agenda,” Hundt told POLITICO. “[Wayne] Gretzky said, ‘A good hockey player plays where the puck is. A great hockey player plays where the puck is going to be,’ and Julius is skating to where the puck is going be.”

Genachowski may have to do a lot of skating: He still has a few big games left. The AT&T/T-Mobile deal and USF reform will bring new political challenges, as well as trying to establish a communications network for public safety before the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

There has already been speculation about when Genachowski may choose to leave his post — and some privately wonder if it will be before the end of the year.

Genachowski said he doesn’t plan on going anywhere. When asked where he’ll be a year from now, he said, “Right here.”

He says his job now is to gather facts and data to use to develop fair policy solutions — “and then fight like hell to get it done.”

This article first appeared on POLITICO Pro at 4:20 p.m. on May 8, 2011.