That’s what the Wall Street Journal is reporting anyway, citing a “person close to Mr. Gates.” If the younger Gates did indeed vote for I-1098 — the initiative launched and funded by his father that would create an income tax on the rich — it would mean taking a public stance in opposition to that of Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, the man now running the company he founded, who has thus far donated $100,000 to defeat the measure.There are two interesting things to watch here, assuming a confirmation of Gates’ affirmative vote comes soon.The first is how visible Gates the Younger will be on the campaign trail, if at all. Up until, and including, today, he hasn’t weighed in on his dad’s initiative. Will this Journal outing mean a public statement or, we can only hope, a public refutation of Ballmer’s donation?Also, something we’ll probably never know but it’s fun to talk about anyway: was this always part of the plan? By that I mean was Gates I-1098’s David Aardsma, the closer whose support would guarantee a late-inning November victory? Think about it. If Gates comes out earlier this year in support of the initiative, no one bats an eye because, well, we all presume he’s gonna side with his dad. But months and months without word make it seem as if he’s mulling it over. In that case, a last-minute decision carries the weight of a hard-fought mental calculation from the world’s richest man that this tax-the-rich business is good policy for Washington.