by , 12:00 PM EDT, May 3rd, 2004
The worlds of politics and technology often cross over, much to the dismay of some. From the political nature of the Microsoft antitrust settlement, to government regulation over digital copyrights (and the lobbying from media companies concerning that regulation), to many, many other areas, politics, technology, and business often go hand in hand. Today, Bloomberg is reporting another form of crossover, with the news that Apple CEO Steve Jobs will be advising the John Kerry presidential campaign. From the article:
Billionaire investor Warren Buffett and Apple Computer Inc. co-founder Steve Jobs are advising Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry on economic issues.
Kerry, 60, the four-term Massachusetts senator challenging President George W. Bush, "reached out to them and they're giving him economic advice about the deficit and job creation," said David Wade, Kerry's campaign spokesman.
"Political campaigns are always looking for celebrity endorsements and these are two eminent celebrities in the investment world," said James Lucier, a political analyst at Prudential Equity Group LLC. "But I don't think investors are looking for celebrities, they are looking for policies."
While the full article notes that Steve Jobs has not personally contributed to the John Kerry campaign, it is otherwise very short on details as what exactly Mr. Jobs will be advising Mr. Kerry about. TMO is attempting to get more information for a more in-depth story.
That said, this is the highest-profile political dabbling Mr. Jobs has engaged in since returning to the helm of Apple, and it is certainly the most active thing he has done. It's possible that this could lead to some form of fallout in the future, especially should the elections swing to the other party.