October 21, 2008 by Matt Thomas
It’s not as if there was ever any doubt about who Google CEO, Eric Schmidt was supporting in the US election. He’s been an unofficial supporter of, and advisor to, Senator Obama on tech and, strangely to some, clean energy issues for months now. However Schmidt’s, and tacitly Google’s support for the Senator took a more serious turn yesterday with the announcement that Schmidt would be joining Obama for the final hectic weeks of the campaign.
Schmidt is a prominent democrat, though he has kept a fairly low profile on that score throughout the 2008 campaign. The fact that he now feels comfortable to go quite so public with his support is a major boon for the front-running Obama campaign with the race expected to tighten in the final weeks.
The move is also thought to benefit Google in terms of both PR and politics. Appearance wise, proximity to the hugely popular senator is a very good thing, as is having the president’s ear should he get in, particularly when you consider that, for all Google’s market share, Washington lobbying is an area in which Microsoft have always been strong. An Obama win could see Google compete with, if not eclipse them on that score.
The one note of caution to sound is that Google have drawn criticism for overreaching in the past, with their environmental and space exploration programmes. This is yet more extra-curricular activity. However, Google shareholders have shown patience in the past, I shouldn’t imagine this’ll cause more than some isolated grumbling.
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