Let’s dispense with this fiction that Mark Zuckerberg isn’t running for some kind office. He’s running for office.

There is, of course, his well-publicized, impeccably documented, and sumptuously photographed apple pie tour of all fifty states, which, as most people will tell you, is something all thirty-three-year-old billionaires suddenly decide to do with no ulterior motive. But even beyond that, we also know Zuckerberg engineered the company’s rules so that he could remain in control of Facebook even while serving in government indefinitely. The endgame here is not particularly hard to figure out.

But contrary to popular belief, if Zuckerberg is somehow elected president or takes another kind of government position in a few years time, this won’t be the first time he’ll be wielding influence over people’s lives through the halls of power. Zuckerberg has been doing so for years through Facebook’s extensive lobbying efforts.