William Henry Gates III, October 28, 1955 (Seattle, Wash.) -
VP candidate for Computer Party (2012)
Running mate with nominee: Microsoft Sam (b. 1998)
Popular vote: 0 (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538
The campaign:
Microsoft Sam was released in the late 1990s as a TTS (text-to-speech) generator online interface. On Feb. 6, 2009 LAF Network got an early start on the 2012 election year by releasing a video promoting Microsoft Sam for President with Bill Gates as the VP. Shutting down Apple and starting "a protection plan for computers" were among the promises.
I am not a believer in astrology, but Gates and I were born less than three weeks of each other under the same sign in the same year in the same state. While he was living in affluent circumstances in the Seattle area, I was 90 miles southwest on a farm nestled in the soggy Coastal Range crowded into a single-wide third hand trailer with my family. Yet, I still feel sort of a bond with Gates since both of us grew up here at the same time and have remained close to home-- a rarity these days as Washington State has changed enormously in a very short time. Of course another big difference is that Gates had a lot to do with those changes around here and I was merely a muddy peasant.
Gates and I can both remember J.P. Patches in his early years, when the Smith Tower was the tallest building in Seattle, when the old 99 was not quite retired as the main transportation artery for Puget Sound, when the Century 21 World's Fair took place in 1962, the Columbus Day Storm, the 1965 6.5 earthquake, Bob Cram the cartooning weatherman, etc. These might sound like trivial commonalities but I find it humanizing.
It is popular to put Gates down or demonize him because of his wealth and power, but you won't find me in that chorus. In my former field of librarianship the Gates family have been very generous here in Washington, especially appreciated as budgets for libraries have been continually cut to ribbons since the 1980s. While governors as disparate as Gary Locke (D-Wash.), Jeb Bush (R-Fla.), and Jesse Ventura (I-Minn.) made moves to eliminate their state libraries because "everything is on Internet," the Gates family knows the value of libraries and librarians as invaluable professionals in the Information Age and the cultural center for many communities, especially rural ones like mine.
As far as the 2012 election went, Gates attended a fundraiser supporting the reelection of President Obama. So we even voted for the same candidate. If the Microsoft Sam/Gates ticket had won the election there no doubt would have been a few small details about Sam's eligibility for office that would have prevented them from assuming office.
There have been efforts to draft Gates for President, but why would he take the demotion?
Election history: none
Other occupations: gazillionaire philanthropist
Notes:
Bill Gates is color blind.
