I’m convinced that money buys elections but not loyal computer users. I don’t mean bribery, although that may happen, too. I’m referring to dollars spent on advertising.

Democrat presidential hopeful Barack Obama is throwing huge wads of cash into television commercials, even setting up a half-hour special, while Republican candidate John McCain has pulled advertising in at least five states. I’ve noticed an Obama channel on my DishNetwork guide, too. As the money dries up for McCain and Obama keeps adding his own face to more and more living room idiot boxes, the poll numbers show Obama pulling ahead by as much as 10 points.

Don’t worry, we’re getting to McCain’s iPod.

Like Obama, Microsoft has tons more money than its competitor. The technology juggernaut is spending $300 million for its Windows Vista advertising campaign.

The comparison starts to fall apart there, however, because Microsoft’s money doesn’t appear to be helping it much. The company attempts weakly to answer Apple’s clever “I’m a PC” ads, by turning the phrase into a positive for the Windows name. Still, even longtime Windows loyalists, both consumer and professional, are deriding Vista.

Apple, the one with less money, is gaining personal computer market share (yes, contrary to the ads, a Mac is a PC, too). Microsoft, the one with unimaginable amounts of money, is seeing its name dragged through the mud by not just the Apple loyal and watching almost helplessly as users jump ship. It’s opposite of the money situation seen in the presidential race, where more and more Democrats and non-Democrats are getting behind Obama, who has more campaign funds than McCain by far.

One might argue that Microsoft represents the establishment, as does McCain, while Obama plays the part of the fresh newcomer, as does Apple. That’s fine until one remembers that the companies are about the same age. Microsoft hitched a ride on the IBM gravy train when Big Blue agreed to install DOS on the PC’s it sold, so in that regard it is more establishment than Apple. With the same number of years to win market share, however, Apple has managed to dominate the desktop only in niche markets.

Apple has met overwhelming success with its iPod line. At a time when the company’s name was almost completely out of the limelight, this exciting new device singlehandedly saved it.

Sarah Palin was supposed to be McCain’s iPod.

At first, it worked. Palin’s addition to McCain’s ticket got his name out there and led to a surge into a dead heat with Obama. It looked like he might ride that wave to victory, just as the iPod’s dominance undoubtedly led to more interest in Apple’s desktop offering. Lately, however, concerns have risen over Palin’s ability to be president should something happen to McCain, and some reports say she is hurting the GOP’s chances at keeping the presidency.

Perhaps to increase his numbers McCain just needs to follow the iPod’s pattern of making quirky commercials with songs featuring independent recording artists. Or dump Palin. But I’m pretty sure it’s way too late in the race for that.

We all know (I hope) that the highest quality and popularity do not always go hand in hand. This is true in everything, including computers and politicians. The argument over which is better, Mac or Windows PC, will go on no matter which is more popular or has more money.

In McCain vs. Obama, the same applies, but discussions over who is better will become pointless after November 4.

For my operating system at home, I’m using neither Microsoft nor Apple. I’m using Linux. Now, where is the equivalent on the presidential ballot?