Eric Schmidt, CEO of Silicon Valley heavyweight Google, plans to campaign on behalf of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, it was revealed this week.

Eric Schmidt
(Credit: Declan McCullagh/CNET Networks)

On Tuesday in the US, just two weeks before Election Day on November 4, Schmidt will join Senator Obama at an event in Florida to moderate a panel on the economy, The Wall Street Journal reported. Schmidt has unofficially been advising the Obama campaign on technology and energy matters.

Schmidt said the endorsement of a party nominee was his own, and not a statement on behalf of his company. "I'm doing this personally," he said. "Google is officially neutral."

In August, Schmidt made an appearance at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, though not on the main stage. Rather, he took questions from bloggers in the Big Tent workspace outside the convention center, where he said Obama got a big boost in his campaign efforts from the internet.

Google has drawn the attention of antitrust regulators in Washington for a proposed advertising deal with fellow internet giant Yahoo, though the Justice Department has yet to take or recommend any formal action.

Schmidt addressed that issue in his interview with the Journal. "My sense is, the Justice Department makes judgments on these issues independent of politics," he said. On Sunday, Obama got a surprise endorsement from Colin Powell, who earlier served as secretary of state under President Bush.

Senator John McCain, Obama's Republican rival, has the backing of Silicon Valley notables including Meg Whitman, former CEO of eBay, and Carly Fiorina, former CEO of Hewlett-Packard. Google was not immediately available to comment on the report.