[caryme]

I'm graduating this June and starting work full-time at Microsoft in August. I'm gay and my boyfriend is moving to Seattle with me, where we're planning on getting a domestic partnership and would like to get married down the road.

Microsoft's efforts to create a truly equal workplace and community for me played a significant role on my decision to accept an offer there (note: I don't say this at the exclusion of other companies who make similar efforts).

[technoslut]

I have no doubt that MS believes in having the best workers possible, regardless of their sexual orientation. I congratulate you for getting a good job.

What I do find interesting is that the Republican Party is becoming more fundamentalist as time and elections go on, especially when both Ballmer and Gates are Republican.

They're not Christian fundamentalists but they do happen to vote that way due to business issues.

[jfruh]

Every election cycle I think, this is the year that the big business/libertarian and social conservative/religious wings of the Republican parties finally break up, but it keeps not happening, though I think it's the dynamic behind the let's-find-a-not-Romney weird surges that have been happening throughout the GOP campaign so far this year. Bizarrely, Gingrich, who has a certain amount of cred in both camps, might be the compromise candidate of both wings, and if he goes down in flames in the general (as he almost certainly would) it could speed that divorce.

On the other hand, the US's first-past-the-post election system makes a multi-party system pretty difficult to maintain, so who knows.

[untog]

On the other hand, the US's first-past-the-post election system makes a multi-party system pretty difficult to maintain, so who knows.

The UK has a first-past-the-post system and has maintained a three party system for over one hundred years now. It has largely been between two parties (Labour and Conservative) but the third party (Liberal Democrats) have still been a vocal minority in parliament.

[geogra4]

I don't know about Ballmer, but is Gates a republican? According to [0] he donates more to D than to R, although not by a great margin

[0] http://www.forbes.com/profile/bill-gates/

[untog]

Whether or not Ballmer or Gates are supporters, the Republican Party's shift towards fundamentalism is not supported by all of their base. The number of votes for Ron Paul in the primaries show that there is a sizable base still interested in small government and minimal taxes.

I honestly do believe we'll see a third party (be it Fundamentalist of Libertarian, depending on who 'wins' the Republicans) with a decade or two. The outcome of this coming election (whether Romney wins, and how the party reacts) could be a deciding factor.

[rickmb]

"shift towards"? The Republican party has been fundamentalist by all but American standards, and I'm not even talking about the more extreme tea party folks. Those are just plain insane.

[JS_startup]

Sounds like he means fundamentalist in the religious sense. Believe it or not the evolution of the neo-con and American Christianity's attachment of itself to the GOP is a pretty recent development. Not long ago an average Republican was mainly fiscally conservative and the "family values" types were the outliers.

[technoslut]

Businesses will vote in their best interests. Both Ballmer and Gates grew up in upper or wealthy middle class. They've always voted Republican.

> I honestly do believe we'll see a third party

Hopefully, but I was a former political junkie and third parties were never elected.

[semanticist]

The third party of British politics - the Liberal Democrats - are currently in power due to a coalition government, and this is under a FPTP system not a PR system, so coalitions are uncommon.

For a Presidential election a coalition doesn't make sense, but you guys do have other branches of government that could use a bit of a change.

[sukuriant]

I think his point was an honest, sizeable third party, as opposed to the small grass movements of Nader, etc.

[pearle]

I'm not that educated regarding the accuracy of this website but perhaps others can comment on it.

http://www.campaignmoney.com/biography/bill_gates.asp

[serge2k]

Congrats. Hope everything works out for you two.

[Craiggybear]

Congratulations on the new job and new life.

I sincerely wish you the very best with both.