Citing Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama’s technological savvy and technology policies, Google Chief Executive Officer Eric Schmidt expressed his support for the Illinois senator yesterday at the Law School.
Schmidt and Obama’s technology advisor Julius Genachowski made a stop in Charlottesville yesterday in an effort to garner support for the presidential candidate and his technology policies. The pair spoke on a wide variety of issues from income disparity to using the Internet as a means for civic engagement, but the primary focus was Obama’s technology policies.
Obama “sees technology as the key part of a solution to almost every problem we face,” Genachowski said. “He believes in using technology to make the government more transparent, more participatory and thus more effective.”
Schmidt also noted that Obama attained his current level of success at least partly because of the Internet.
“When he started out, he didn’t have enough money for blanket TV ads,” Schmidt said, noting that Obama therefore used the Internet to rally support and collect donations.
Praising Obama’s desire to expand high-speed Internet access, Schmidt also said even though the Democratic Party tends to support smaller businesses and the Republican Party’s goals tend to be more in line with those of CEOs such as himself, Obama’s vision for technology and business defies those boundaries.
According to Obama’s Web site, Obama “strongly support[s] the principle of network neutrality to preserve the benefits of open competition on the Internet” and wants to “ensure [American] goods and services are treated fairly in foreign markets.” The site also states that Obama wishes to “encourage a modern communications infrastructure, prepare all of our children for a 21st century economy,” “improve America’s competitiveness,” and “employ science and technology to solve our nation’s most pressing problems.”
In this regard, Assoc. Media Studies Prof. Siva Vaidhyanathan explained that he thinks Obama is attempting to create a path that seeks to solve the multiple levels of the current economic crisis.
“American business understands that if we don’t solve the health care crisis and the energy crisis then we’re all going down,” Vaidhyanathan said. “So it’s in everyone’s interest to address those two issues front and center as a part of the economic recovery, and Obama has clearly offered a path to dealing with both of those issues.”
But Vaidhyanathan also said it is important to understand that large business executives may not be choosing candidates to support only for the sake of supporting a candidate.
“Nobody does something for nothing,” Vaidhyanathan said. “In the case of Eric Schmidt, Google is about to face some major scrutiny by the ... Justice Department for their merger with DoubleClick ... and for Google Books.”
Vaidhyanthan noted that much of corporate America, potentially including Google, would like it known that they are on the side of the prospective winners and that they would like some leniency when it comes to regulation.
Schmidt has also been rumored to be a possible candidate for a cabinet-level position Obama proposed to create upon becoming president. When asked whether he would consider filling the Chief Technology Officer position, however, Schmidt said no.
Schmidt added that his reason for choosing Obama instead of Republican presidential candidate John McCain was also partly based on his belief that McCain does not use existing and future technologies to his benefit.
“Obama uses the technology young people use, establishing a sense of kinship,” Schmidt said. “It actually matters that you use this stuff.”
Hoos for McCain President Sweeney, however, said that just because Obama is more technologically savvy than McCain does not make him necessarily more qualified for the Oval Office.
“I think the fact that Obama knows how to write an e-mail and that McCain doesn’t is not a strong form of differentiation to be the president of the United States,” Sweeney said. “It reflects the age of the people helping him out and the overall mindset of people in the campaign. Knowing how to employ technology doesn’t make Obama more fit to help technological businesses, either.”
Clark Stevens, an Obama campaign spokesperson, though, said Obama’s grasp of technology is certainly relevant to a presidential race.
“Obama’s Internet campaign is only the beginning of how Obama would harness the power of the Internet to transform government and politics,” Stevens said. “Barack Obama will use the most current technological tools available to make government less beholden to special interest groups and lobbyists and promote citizen participation in government decision-making.”
Schmidt suggested that it may be time for a more technologically literate president to take office.
“If you don’t think it’s time for a change, then you’re not angry enough,” the Virginia native said.
Since 2001, Schmidt has been the CEO of Google. He and Genachowski also made a similar stop at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond yesterday as part of the Obama campaign’s Get Out the Vote efforts.
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