• The Wall Street Journal, Monday, October 20, 2008 11:45 AM

Google CEO Eric Schmidt this week will join Democratic nominee Barack Obama on the presidential campaign trail, a job he calls a "natural evolution" from his role as an advisor to the campaign. But Schmidt is stressing that Google itself is neutral in the campaign.

Either way, it's hard to deny that Google could use a friend in the White House right now. Congress is considering measures that could have an adverse impact on Google's business, including laws that could limit the companies' ability to deliver personally targeted online advertisements and rules that would allow telecommunications companies to charge different prices for different levels of Internet service. And Google's proposed ad-sharing agreement has earned the attention of the Justice Department.

Of course, Schmidt is hardly the only tech executive getting in on the presidential race. Former EBay CEO Meg Whitman, Cisco Systems CEO John Chambers and former Hewlett-Packard Co. CEO Carly Fiorina have all advised and stumped for John McCain.

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