Hm: Obama campaign co-chair donates $10k to Paul Ryan

Talk about a split decision...

Marc Benioff, the founder and CEO of Salesforce.com, has been a big supporter of President Obama's reelection bid, including bundling more than $500,000 in donations and hosting a star-studded $35,800-a-plate fundraiser with Stevie Wonder. But as CNN points out, Benioff -- an Obama national campaign co-chair -- is evidence that you can like one candidate but vote for another:

"I'm squarely a supporter of the president, and he is absolutely the right man for the job," Benioff said Monday.

But the tech executive is also a fan of Ryan -- Mitt Romney's running mate and a rising Republican star. In June, Benioff donated $10,000 to Ryan's political action committee after meeting with the candidate, who at the time had not been named to the GOP ticket and was running for re-election in the House.

How is that possible?

"My approach to politics is that I'm not a Democrat or a Republican. I'm an American and I always support candidates I think are great for the country," Benioff said.

What's so attractive about Ryan, Benioff said, is his focus on deficit and budget issues. The nation's fiscal difficulties must be addressed, the CEO said, and Ryan's ideas offer "a lot of the right long-term thinking for the country."

That's admirable, I suppose.  But it's especially interesting to note that Obama's campaign co-chair also donated to Romney in 2007 and George W. Bush in 1999 and 2003.