UP Ibalon Bicol: Did Google Inc Donate $373,212 to Barack Obama's Campaign?

Did Google Inc Donate $373,212 to Barack Obama's Campaign?

8/17/2008 | Posted by andygimpaya | Edit Post

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At OpenSecrets.org, you find the list of top contributors to the Obama campaign. Google Inc is 6th in the list with $373,212 , behind Goldman Sachs, $627,730;University of California, $523,120; JPMorgan Chase & Co,$398,021; Citigroup Inc,$393,899; UBS AG, $378,400; and just slightly ahead of Harvard University, $369,802. Microsoft Corp donated $276,925 and ranked 15th among the top contributors.

Did Google indeed give $373,212 to the Obama camp? The answer is yes, but the money is not a corporate contribution but is the cumulative contribution from Google employees. Google Corporation did not give a cent and it does not run out of representatives in online forums who are quick to explain this.

Still with Google personnel leaning towards Obama, some concerns were raised about McCain getting shortchanged in Google searches and his general visibility in the Google-led World Wide Web. No this will not happen, one says, Google search algorithms have been well tested for security and reliability and cannot be tweaked by one or two employees. A naughty suggestion comes out to ask the Adwords team to raise the minimum bids for McCain and GOP related keywords, making them less visible in the Adsense feeds.

Not many are really surprised that Google (and Microsoft) employees will lean overwhelmingly towards Barack Obama. These are "highly educated younger people who are smart enough (and "tuned in" enough) to know that voting for McCain is absolutely unreasonable." Most voices in the online communities in fact tend to root for Obama and no further search engine manipulations are needed. Whereas Obama is known to be active posters in online forums and walks around comfortably with his Goldberry gadget, McCain openly admits that he does not know how to use the mouse and the keyboard (as if that is something to be proud of). He also adds that he leaves all his email works to his wife. All these do not speak well of McCain's learning curve on things new and unfamiliar. Too bad for him the world is not perfect (understatement applied), otherwise with his age and experience, McCain would have been the run away winner in the US 2008 election even this early. Even while he whines occasionally that this "young man Obama" has "got everything all wrong", there is not a thankful younger generation who cares to listen.

More than fifty years ago, the irrepressible English philosopher Bertrand Russell warned us to be wary of anyone of who touts his 50 years of experience because he could be talking only of 1 year of experience repeated 50 times. So Russell was not one who would go for more of the same. If he were alive today he would be one with Google and the multitude worldwide who chant in their hearts "Change We Can Believe In."

Labels: Bertrand Russel, Google, Harvard, McCain, Microsoft, Obama, US Elections 2008

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Did Google Inc Donate $373,212 to Barack Obama's Campaign?

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