Actors, generals, lawyers, athletes, even business tycoons have joined the ranks of political life

By Art Gillis

......But it is quite rare for a professional IT executive to cross the line into the arena of diplomatic service or politically correct behavior. And there's a very good reason for that. The worst thing any serious and responsible IT person can do is sugar coat the truth about any tech-based solution, and that's why the typical IT guy couldn't make it in politics. Even the most successful and financially powerful IT entrepreneurs would never make it in the world of politics. For example, imagine Bill Gates running for governor of Washington. Or Larry Ellison trying to unseat Barbara Boxer or Dianne Feinstein. Or Steve Jobs as mayor of Cupertino.

There is no such thing as an all-good-news tech solution, and that's OK if the keepers of the purse strings and the managers of human resources know the whole story up front, especially the bad news. Imagine how far a politician would get if he told the bad news first. Wouldn't you rather have heard this statement instead of the slam dunk one? "We're not 100% sure there are WMDs in Iraq today, but we can't risk the loss of American lives by waiting to find out. So we have to take a bold initiative for the safety and security of our people."

To set the record straight, folks, we do have a U.S. senator from New Jersey who came from the IT world. Frank Lautenberg was the former CEO of the largest payroll processor in the world, ADP.