Sergey Brin, Google Co-Founder, Wishes Obama Wasn't A Democrat

Google Co-Founder Wishes Obama Wasn't A Democrat
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA - SEPTEMBER 25: Google co-founder Sergey Brin looks on during a news conference at Google headquarters on September 25, 2012 in Mountain View, California. California Gov. Jerry Brown signed State Senate Bill 1298 that allows driverless cars to operate on public roads for testing purposes. The bill also calls for the Department of Motor Vehicles to adopt regulations that govern licensing, bonding, testing and operation of the driverless vehicles before January 2015. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA - SEPTEMBER 25: Google co-founder Sergey Brin looks on during a news conference at Google headquarters on September 25, 2012 in Mountain View, California. California Gov. Jerry Brown signed State Senate Bill 1298 that allows driverless cars to operate on public roads for testing purposes. The bill also calls for the Department of Motor Vehicles to adopt regulations that govern licensing, bonding, testing and operation of the driverless vehicles before January 2015. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Google co-founder Sergey Brin is just as sick and tired of political partisanship in Washington as the rest of us. Even if he doesn't always put his money where his mouth is.

Penning a Google+ post just after midnight on the West Coast on Election Day, Brin made a plea to whomever wins the presidential election on Tuesday to quit his political party.

"[W]hoever they might be: please withdraw from your respective parties and govern as independents in name and in spirit," he wrote. "It is probably the biggest contribution you can make to the country."

Brin explained why he dislikes partisanship so much. "It is ironic since whenever I have met with our elected officials they are invariably thoughtful, well-meaning people," he wrote. "And yet collectively 90% of their effort seems to be focused on how to stick it to the other party."

But what Brin wrote contradicts what he's done with his pocketbook. According to OpenSecrets.org, the Russian-born U.S. citizen donated $30,800 to the Democrat National Committee in October 2011. (He's also donated $5,000 in total directly to Barack Obama's campaign.)

There's little question about it: Brin, like Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt, is an Obama supporter. Given the two-party system we have, donating to the Democratic Party is the most effective way for Brin to get the president a second term -- even if, on principle, he isn't happy that Obama's affiliated with that party.

At least we now know that by posting political screeds onto social networks, at least one of Google's mega-wealthy founders is no different than us.

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