[Bush2000]

Look at the donation records of Bill Gates' foundation, which is controlled by Gates. That list reads like a who's who of liberal causes.

Wrong. It's managed by Bill Gates' father, William H. Gates, Sr., and Patty Stonesifer.

As for the donation records in '92, look at where the lion's share of money went. Hints: Bush41 and company didn't see that lion's share; likewise, H. Ross Perot, Harry Brown, and the other minor candidates didn't see that pot of gold.

Bottom line: He gave money to conservative candidates, as well. Contention disproven.

I don't have the specific Wall Street Journal article that pointed out the disappearance of Gates and Microshaft from the political donation game, but the fact that virtually no money came out of Redmond between 1992 and 1999 is a matter of historical record. As I said, the reason why Gates and Microshaft got out of the game is unknown.

Dude, you are simply wrong. Search http://herndon1.sdrdc.com/fecimg/norindsea.html with his name and you will see. He gave to all kinds of different causes, both conservative and liberal.

[steveegg]

Thanks for the clarification on who runs the Gates foundation. Read various posts on this thread for further evidence of Gates' personal beliefs (Planned Parenthood is prominently featured, and the last I checked, they weren't exactly conservative).

I note that there's no record of donations prior to the 1998 election cycle (prior to the lawsuits starting to get legs). For the record, here's the full list of donations from a Gates in Redmond, WA in the 1998, 2000 and 2002 election cycles (using the advanced search on the link you provided):

Washington Republican Party (8/19/1998) $2,000
Patrick Leahy (D) (11/20/1997) $1,000
Spirit of America (supports mainly Republican campaigns, based on a quick check) (6/25/1998) $1,000
Slade Gorton (R) (8/15/1999) $1,000 (8/16/1999) $1,000
New Democrat Network (8/11/1998) $2,000
Republican Majority Fund (8/27/1997) $3,000
Microsoft Corp. PAC (all over the political board) (11/20/1997) $5,000 (7/14/1998) $5,000
Rick White (R) (6/30/1997) $1,000 (6/25/1998) $1,000
Alphonse D'Amato (R) (6/12/1998) $1,000
John McCain (R) (2/26/1998; to Senate campaign) $500
Abraham Spencer (R) (12/6/1998) $1,000
Northwest Leadership PAC (supports mainly Republicans, based on a quick check) (6/25/1998) $1,000
Wisconsin Leadership PAC (supports mainly Republicans, based on a quick check) (10/8/2001) $1,000
Victory In Washington (a Joint fundraiser whose beneficiaries were the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and Patty Murray (D)) (11/26/1997) $5,000

As I said in the FReepmail to you, these donations appear to have been a reaction to the Klintoon DOJ legal attacks. Gates returned to the political arena earlier than I remembered.

As a side note, the "scary" thing is that in a lot of the cases, I didn't need to double-check party affiliation. Guess my memory isn't as far gone as I thought <VBG>