Bill Gates vs. Steve Jobs: 1:0

[crenz]

I'm talking election campaign donations, of course.

William H. Gates donated $2000 (http://www.fundrace.org/neighbors.php?type=name&lname=Gates&fname=William+H.&search=Search+by+Name) for guess who (http://www.georgewbush.com/) (no really, guess first before you click on the link).

There are no donations registered for Steve Jobs (http://www.fundrace.org/neighbors.php?type=name&lname=Jobs&fname=&search=Search+by+Name).

If you want to search their neighbourhoods, the Zip codes are 98052 (Microsoft) and 95014 (Apple).

[miloblithe]

Wasn't there some article about a general tech-vote shift from the left to the right?

Not really a surprise. Bush had the case against Microsoft brushed under the table. Gates, I'm sure, would be happy to supply more than $2000.

[Inspector Lee]

I thought I read somewhere that Jobs (or his wife) donated a chunk of coin to Howard Dean's campaign. I'll have to dig for the link.

Currently buried at work.

[raynegus]

Steve donates his energy by making good, creative products. Bill does not.

What would the world be like if Steve never existed? We could be still be in a DOS world... without even a mouse to click with. Who knows.

What would the world be like if Bill never existed? It would probably be better. We'd all have Macs. Everything from the 128K and after was a machine the average consumer could use.

Donating money isn't everything. Besides, Bill has a lot more of it to spare (mostly thanks to stealing what Steve created).

[MongoTheGeek]

Gates historically hasn't been a big donor.
Jobs historically backed Democrats.

The personal donations are drops in the bucket. The big question is about hosting fundraisers and supporting the advocacy groups which are more unfettered in spending.

It was interesting searching my zipcode. There were a slew of "Howard Deans" and a some "George Bush's". Kerry lost to Clark! The occupations were really revealing for which way people went.

Searching for my surname revealed almost exclusively Bush with a lone $50 for Dean.

[crenz]

Donating money isn't everything.

Definitely. Note that I didn't mention what I think about it. That was intentional.. (As a non-US-American, I have a whole different perspective on the whole campaign-funding-thingie anyway, so I better not comment)

[Sparky's]

Just a note of clarity. This quoted from "The Buying of the President 2004" by Charles Lewis, page 119

50 top Republican donors;
#8 Microsoft = $4,175,966

"This list is based on individual, corporate, and PAChard- and soft-money contributions to the Republican National Committee, National Republican Congressional Committee, National Republican Senatorial Committee, and affiliated committees between January 1, 1978, and June 30, 2003"

50 top Democratic donors;
#46 Microsoft = $2,141,977

"This list is based on individual, corporate, and PAChard- and soft-money contributions to the Democratic National Committee, Democratic Campaign Congressional Committee, Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, and affiliated committees between January 1, 1978, and June 30, 2003"

Just thought you might want to ponder those numbers.

[Sparky's]

Oh yea, I forgot to mention, Apple doesn't show up anywhere!

[acidrock]

Oh yea, I forgot to mention, Apple doesn't show up anywhere!

We are better off because Jobs did not donate to Bush j/k -acid