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Why Eric Schmidt eyeing the very first CTO position? Obama fever!

By Amarendra Bhushan for CEOWORLD Magazine Updated:October 21, 2008

who would have guessed that the CEO of Google would support a “socialist” for president? That is just about as strange as finding out that the former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Secretary of State would support an extremist. But, That’s another great news, if Obama wins we can expect sound technology policies with Eric Schmidt’s support. Google will probably won’t endorse it publicly. When a guy with a net worth of $6.6 billion supports a candidate that will raise his taxes, I’m impressed. Maybe Schmidt is just too dumb to understand what “socialism” is all about… ;o)

Indeed, the newspaper reckons that Google employees have contributed a total of USD $487,355 to the Obama campaign, compared to a trifling USD $20,600 for McCain. So, Google’s big-wig has also been working with Obama in an unofficial capacity, aiding the Democrat contender in matters of technology and energy. Frankly, you could have guessed Google and most of its employees were pro-obama without them having to declare themselves. The fact that Schmidt came out puts a dent in my perception of the Google brand. I love Google, but he didn’t need to do this. He should have left well enough alone.

Google CEO Eric Schmidt is to endorse Barack Obama and start campaigning for him, he told the Wall Street Journal Monday. The endorsement by the man widely seen as the most powerful figure in the technology world came just a day after the Democratic presidential candidate was boosted by the endorsement of Colin Powell, a widely respected former Republican Secretary of State and retired four-star general.

The report said that Schmidt will campaign for Obama starting in Florida on Tuesday. He has also been providing unofficial advice to the Democratic hopeful on energy and technology issues, and could be in line for a Chief Technical Officer post Obama has said he would create in his administration. Schmidt insisted that he was endorsing Obama as a private citizen and that Google retained its official neutral stance in the campaign. Both candidates were invited to address the company’s employees earlier this year but Obama apparently made a better impression than his rival John McCain.

Google is currently under scrutiny by the Justice Department over its proposed alliance with Yahoo. But Schmidt said that his alliance with Obama was unlikely to have an effect on regulatory officials. “My sense is, the Justice Department makes judgments on these issues independent of politics,” Schmidt said. “It would be unfair to Justice to imply [that supporting Sen. Obama] would make a difference.”

This election is all about authenticity. Endorsements are key signalling methods: critical, especially in the final stages of a campaign. Signalling to several key segments is sophisticated marketing: Independents, Techcommunity, etc. This shit works. It does matter.

I see it as Schmidt endorses whoever has the lead in order to bring the most eyeballs to Google. That could be Ron Paul – doesn’t matter. I know Google is rumored to have strong Democratic ties, anyway (think Al Gore) but if it would bring more business to Google, would Schmidt not endorse whoever was in the lead, regardless of that?

Now, if suddently at google.com you see an ad that says “Vote for Obama” or “Google is with Obama”, then you might want to say that it’s wrong but for now it’s just a guy (important and popular guy) sayin’. Not his company as he clearly explained.

Wow. People should remember that CEO’s are people that will vote too, so what if they say “I’ll vote for candidate X or Y”? They have the right, so do you.

Anyway, Eric, stick to your day job. You have a nationwide wifi network to erect and a new phone on the market!

Eric you are a nice kid but i must tale don’t trust politicians!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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