Just two weeks before Election Day on Tuesday, November 4, Chairman and CEO of Google Inc. (GOOG) Mr. Eric Schmidt has decided to publicly back Presidential candidate Barack Obama and hit the campaign trail this week on behalf of the Illinois Senator. Schmidt, according to WSJ – is scheduled to join Mr. Obama at an event in Florida to moderate a panel on the economy.
The Google chief tells the Journal his backing of Obama does not represent Google’s views on presidential election of 2008, just his own. He also added that the endorsement of the Democratic presidential candidate was for him a “natural evolution” from his role as an informal adviser to the Obama campaign. Schmidt has been unofficially advising for sometime now the democratic campaign on technology and energy matters.
In August Mr. Schmidt made an appearance outside the Democratic National Convention Center in Denver where he took questions from bloggers in the ‘Big Tent’ emphasizing the fact that Obama received a major increase in his campaign efforts from the Net.
Eric Schmidt however, doesn’t seems to be the only one supporting or planning to endorse the Illinois Senator. The Journal reports, other executives from other technology companies as well are expected to announce their support for Mr. Obama giving his campaign a boost from a highly desirable constituency.
Mr. Schmidt has led the search engine giant successfully since 2001. However, his co. is currently in the midst of an ongoing fight with antitrust regulators in Washington for a proposed ad-sharing partnership deal with Web portal Yahoo (YHOO). As Justice Departments gets ready for its recommendations on formal actions, certainly Schmidt’s endorsement will be further scrutinized.
“My sense is, the Justice Department makes judgments on these issues independent of politics,” Mr. Schmidt said. “It would be unfair to Justice to imply [that supporting Sen. Obama] would make a difference.”
Asked recently of whether he would consider entering the political arena, the 53-year-old Schmidt categorically denied the assertion. Regardless of his rejection, many are speculating that he might desire a role in an Obama administration, possibly the chief technology officer post Sen. Obama has said he would create.
Google employees have contributed more than $487,000 to Sen. Obama’s campaign and about $21,000 to Sen. McCain’s as of Aug. 31. Mr. Schmidt hasn’t donated to either.
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Dear Ladies and Genthemen
Mr Obama mentioned the necessity to build the 21 st infrastructure to sustain the
American competiveness,This point is not stressed enough.The failure of this country to build advanced infrastructure would jeopardise the future of this country when European Union has lounched since more than a decade the fast
train through almost all its economic space.The construction of this new infracture calls for a determined objective as the programme of space .
Advanced laboratory reserch ,more specialized technology centres must be created. All this new undertakings fall under the responsibility of this generation
who is taking the responsibity for change in the economic ,political and social fields.This responsibility calls for the State to pionneer the direction of change .If the State was not the pionneer of change,there would be no need to raise more tax. But, becausee the private sector does not see now the justification of all these projects,the State must take the lead and exp[lain before it becomes too late !