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Stumping for Obama and McCain

• Maggie Shiels
• 24 Oct 08, 10:05 GMT

Mr Schmidt (that's Eric of to you and I) didn't go to Washington like Frank Capra's Mr Smith but he did go to Florida to shill for presidential hopeful Barack Obama.

The Google CEO billed it as a "personal" mission and nothing to do with any issues the company has with the government. The is investigating a planned Google/ advertising deal on anti-trust grounds.

And while Google said in a statement that "the company remains neutral" in the presidential race, Mr Schmidt has been advising the Obama camp for months on technology and energy.

The Googleplex in the heart of Silicon Valley is like a mecca to White House wannabes and the welcome mat is practically worn out by those making the pilgrimage to win over the technorati.

If you want to know who looks like winning the Google workforce vote then just follow the money. So far Google employees have contributed nearly $500,000 (Β£309,000) to Senator while Senator has pulled in just over $20,000 (Β£12,345).

But on the CEO front, four out of five prefer the GOP.

On the campaign trail Mr McCain has for months had Meg Whitman who used to run the online auction site campaigning by his side. Alongside her has been John Chambers the head of systems the world's leading supplier of networking equipment for the internet.

And also going to bat for Senator McCain is Carly Fiorina the ousted CEO of . Although she has been somewhat conspicuous by her absence of late after saying that she didn't think Republican VP Sarah Palin was capable of running a company, but that it didn't matter because that would not be her role. Ouch!

So what's in it for everyone? Henry Brady a professor of political science at UC
told me that for the candidates it's all about showing they are pro-business. For the CEO's it's probably about personal beliefs with perhaps a little bit of vanity thrown in as they strut a much bigger stage than normal. And for the company it's a realisation that government really does count.

"A lot of these start ups started with the notion that they could rule the world," explained Professor Brady.

"The internet would be an alternative way to learn about the world and change the world and the way it is viewed. And then they realised that government mattered to them because it regulates the telecoms industry, it gets involved in issues of privacy and confidentiality and rights. These are issues that the government decides."

That is of course for the next couple of week because who runs the next government will be down to the American people come 4 November.