What can’t Bill Gates do?

It’s certainly a question I’ve wondered before. The Microsoft chairman and philanthropist extraordinaire has poured $3.4 billion in to school improvements and scholarships since 2000 and now he’s trying his hand at influencing voters in 2008.

So who’s the lucky recipient of his Oprah-like blessing? Hillary? Obama? Huckabee? McCain? Nope. Education. The Gates Foundation has planned to make education the No. 1 domestic priority for voters in 2008 by providing $30 million to Strong American Schools’ bipartisan “Ed in’08” campaign.

According to the Seattle P-I, Strong American Schools is led by former Democratic Gov. Roy Romer of Colorado who wants the next president to rally support for learning standards, increased pay and training for teachers, and longer class days and school years. Those ideas would improve access to high-quality education, boost economic vitality and reduce the number of U.S. high school dropouts from 1.2 million a year.

Unfortunately, despite Gates’ influence and support, Ed in ’08 faces an uphill battle. A Dec. 11 ABC News/Washington Post poll showed that only 1 percent of voters identified education as their overriding concern in the presidential campaign—Yikes! People, is this true? Do you really care that little about education in the next election? Do your friends?

But Marc Lamkpin, the executive director of Strong American Schools is optimistic: "The Gates name, the Gates brand, his commitment to philanthropy opens up lots of doors and avenues, and it really does, based on their enormous amount of effort they put into improving schools."

I hope voters recognize the power of the Gates brand and pay attention to education! Only time will tell.