I’ll leave the website in it’s bare form online as a reminder of better times. This, however, will be our final update.

Peace!

PS. The campaign store is still open for 30 days, for those interested (more…)

We’re hoping thousands of people will sign the petition, and even though we know there are thousands of people supporting our ideas, it’s not going to be easy to actually get them to add their signature too… We’re counting on all our supporters to help us get the word out, and appreciate all the exposure we get!

We tested the petition during the last few days and haven’t had any serious problems. But, should you encounter any problem what so ever please let us know!

Thank you so much for your support! CLICK RIGHT HERE TO SIGN OUR PETITION! (more…)

We’ve reached some of our goals: getting the ideas out, stirring up a discussion and getting people to think about the whole presidency thing… The petition is probably the most expected next step….

There’s more to come, but we’ll let the holidays pass first…. See you soon!

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The very concept of Microsoft - a giant campus - is advanced beyond older business models. The employees I have seen, heard and read the writings of (including Bill Gates himself) are enthusiastic and positive, partly because they have to be, sure, but also because the employees working for Bill know they are in all likelihood destined to become millionaires, and they all know they are contributing to the frontier of advancing knowledge and utility for the average person, and so they partake of the optimism of service at the forefront of their field. The symbol of the frontier that they are living out is an American tradition that is unacceptable in the current political climate of win-lose mindsets and criticism of traditional America.

How long has it been since we have seen anything so positive come out of our government? I hate to be negative, as it seems against the positive nature of this website, and the positive call for Bill Gates as president, but I had hopes that the current President might devote much more effort to getting us a foothold in space, or end the Iraq war long before this, or that a candidate from the other party might have acted to fix over-managed health care or the plight of the homeless. But we have not seen the kind of hope in politics that technology promises every day, that is, the hope of curing the sick and prolonging life, of preparing by forethought for natural and man-made disasters, of universal care for those who need it. The political parties seem afraid to actually address these issues in public, much less offer us a candidate who is an unqualified winner, a completely successful entrepreneur!

To cut to the chase, imagine an America returning to the frontier of a rational war on human poverty and misery! Imagine, for an example that is particularly poignant, charities run on a business model (as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation requires, if you hadn’t heard), as if they really hoped and were designed to succeed at their impossible tasks! Imagine the multiplier effect of technology, and cutting-away of deadwood, that rational thinking with a grasp of technological issues and successful management could accomplish, when applied to the unresponsiveness of government and the political incumbents that seem baffled by it, or ignorant of it. Then imagine a government that finally returns to the ideal the founders had for the Republic: appoint (okay, elect) grownups, not demagogues, for high office. For President, elect a responsible person who has proved he can handle enormous responsibility, and trust him to do a competent, no, a superb job, as he has in managing his own affairs. Now, that is an exciting idea! Bill Gates for President!

We would like to thank Dan for sending in this article.

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Would Americans even consider voting for someone who isn’t a politician? I mean Ross Perot gave it a shot several years ago and it didn’t go well… but then again he was a nobody to most of the U.S. population AND kind of a nutball honestly. That said, Bill Gates does have more name recognition than most politicians considering the race in 2008 and he can fund his own campaign so there’s not the ever present hint of lobbyist and special interest groups being the puppet master behind a campaign. Unfortunately I highly doubt Mr. Gates would want the job and I doubt even more that Americans would vote for him. People don’t trust successful businessmen for some reason and just the name “Microsoft” sends some people into fits about unfair business practices and monopoly tactics. He’s also an atheist and even though religion should have nothing to do with politics this would be a black mark against him.

I guess the point of all this is that the American people still trust politicians to run this country even though most of them don’t even properly represent their constituents. I’m not saying that we should vote a bunch of business leaders into office either but I think people should keep an open mind when it comes to such things. Who cares if someone is an atheist… or isn’t married… or is gay… or any other “oddball” thing that people don’t associate with a “good” politician? Are these really the things that matter in the long run? Apparently so here in America… and I find that sad personally.

Mike Browning from the Real American Blog posted this right here, and makes some good points. His “I think people should keep an open mind when it comes to such things” is really what this website is all about…

That’s right, we really are serious about this. To get our ideas out there we are looking for ten to fifteen adults who, even though we all know it’s a long shot to see Bill actually run for President, feel strongly about our ideas and are willing to contribute some time to the collective. Our small but enthusiastic team is proving to be a tiny bit too small, and with some extra (wo)manpower we’re sure we can do so much more…

Interested? Send us an e-mail (campaign@billgatesforpresident.net) with your personal motivation and a little bio and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible! We’re mainly looking for people from different areas in the US, but anyone (including Europeans, Canadians, …) are free to get in touch with us. Thanks!

Donald Trump is too full of himself (but Letterman would have great material), Ross Perot was too preachy and weird, and Arnold is too foreign (meaning he legally can’t run; not that I’m against Austrians).

Here’s a name that could overcome all these obstacles: Bill Gates. Not the old Bill Gates spouting technology, wearing ill-fitting clothes and crushing competitors for sport (though his company is doing this with relish and third parties are paying the price). No. I’m talking about the new Gates of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

As far as I can tell, Gates has not pledged allegiance to either party (probably the only thing he and I have in common). In 2004 Gates gave only $22,500 to candidates with a slight edge to Democrats. For someone with Gates’ pockets, this is as close to giving nothing as you can get!

I mentioned this idea to my mother and her eyes opened wide (the way they did every time my high school assistant principal called) and she exclaimed “Wow!” After a few seconds of thought she said “Wow” again.

Bill has no major skeletons (I’m guessing) and has taken non-political, purely rational stances on today’s major issues.

Who would you trust to develop a policy on global warming? Who is today’s best ambassador to the third world, to India, to China? But Bill has no experience in foreign policy! True, but neither did the governor of Georgia, California, Arkansas or Texas. Imagine if our fundamental approach to the world was based on logical approaches to curing disease, spreading opportunity, saving the environment and teaching children. A foreign policy flowing from this river would be rich indeed.

Imagine offering our enemies all of these benefits.

Would Iran rather have nukes or freedom from disease? Maybe they’ll go for the A-bombs, but will all regimes react the same? I doubt it. And remember, Bill promised to retire in two years, just in time for his new job in 2008. We’ll just have to live with a total gutting of U.S. anti-trust laws!

Who are you going to vote for? Let me know at dbarney@redmondmag.com.

Doug Barney is editor in chief of Redmond magazine and the editorial director of Redmond Channel Partner magazine. You can contact Doug about “Bill for President” at dbarney@redmondmag.com. The source of this article (first published on 1-oct-2006) is redmondmag.com. Article re-published with full permission of the author.

Senator John McCain of Arizona will be the first one to be tested against Gates. John McCain has emerged as the early front-runner for the Republican nomination. He stands for conservatism, or as he put it to the Washington Post, “My record is the same on all issues, which is that of a conservative Republican. Not a liberal Republican. Not a moderate Republican.” You can find more info on Senator McCain on the John McCain 2008, The Exploratory Committee website, Wikipedia or John McCain on the Issues.

We’re curious about which way this will sway… That means it’s time to make your pick ladies and gents, McCain or Gates?

If you had to vote for one of these two candidates, who would it be?

• 
  John McCain
• 
  Bill Gates

View Results

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We’ve made a small CafePress.com store in which we’re currently selling some shirts, mugs, magnets and stickers. We’re not giving stuff away, but because we’re not in this for the money either (we have a long way to go to break-even ;-)), we’re donating at least 10% of all the profits to HIV/AIDS charities, even if we’re still in the red. We’ll up the percentage at the point of break-even!

We’ve also made some free pdf templates people can use to print out their own posters and flyers. Thanks to Jeff Taylor for the great idea!

It’s amazing to see how many requests we keep getting for promotional stuff. This one is my favorite:

I was hoping for buttons.. you know like the ones you pin to your clothing… so I could wear around something that says “Bill Gates for president!” The people here at the hospital would really get a kick out of that.

That’s the spirit, Joel!

Related Link: Promotional products from Empire Promos. We offer a wide selection of affordable gift items in vairous categories such as eco-friendly, apparel, tech items and more.

One kind of e-mail deserves some special attention though. Loads of people send us e-mails about Microsoft products (most of the time people are referring to malfunctioning operating systems or browsers), with a closing paragraph saying: “that’s why it’s so obvious Bill Gates would make a shitty president. We call it the “Windows-Gates-Transfer (WGT)”-syndrome and it appears to be a serious problem amongst the members of certain anti-Microsoft subcultures. They’re all very passionate about their arguments (that’s a good thing, by the way), but I can’t say I really see their point. Here’s a very nice example of WGT:

If the quality of code M$ produces is anything like the quality of leadership BG would show as a president, you’ll see the USA limp even further backwards in the global technology pact. Look at the amount of time and money M$ put into vista, and compare that to Linux. Every distribution of Linux beats Vista in efficiency, less cost to produce, etc. It’s basically a cheaper, technologically better product.

I honestly don’t get it. Yes, I admit: I’m a Firefox user. Yes, this website is hosted on a server running a Linux distribution and yes, I like the Google search engine. I’m not the only one in our collective either (yes, we even have a Linux user on our team). Where’s the relevance? Was Ronald Reagan a bad president because he played in shitty movies like Tropic Zone or Girls on Probation? That just doesn’t make sense. You don’t have to like the Microsoft Corporation or the Microsoft products support our ideas.

We’re trying to get Bill to run for president simply because we’d like to see someone with his profile in the top spot, not because his browser has the best features. On a final note, this e-mail from Sutter sums it up nicely:

I think this is a great idea, as do all I’ve spoken to. Many of us have our reservations regarding Windows and Microsoft products, but we can see clearly that Bill could very well do a damn good job as President of the US. Many of us (here in Melbourne) find it irritating that the USA has such an influence on other nations in the world (including our very own), we’d certainly like to see someone who can think get voted in.