Google Tries to Change its Stripes [Reader Post]

On the day of Google’s chief executive Eric Schmidt’s testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Washington insiders were met with a big story in Politico detailing Google’s efforts to buy friends in the GOP.

The story “Google Cozies Up to GOP,” details efforts by the company to shed its left wing roots and image: “Google has long been known as Barack Obama‘s BFF: The company and its employees made the Top 5 list of contributors to the president’s 2008 campaign. Its executive chairman, Eric Schmidt, endorsed Obama and donated $25,000 to his inauguration fund. And Obama tapped Schmidt as an unpaid adviser. But that’s all so 2008.”

The article discusses efforts Google has made to “reach out” to the GOP side of the aisle:

Among its many recent GOP hires is a lobbying firm led by Kyle Simmons, former chief of staff to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, and Rob Saliterman, a former spokesman for President George W. Bush.

“We have a strong story to tell about our business and we’ve sought out the best talent we can find to help tell it,” a Google representative says.

In addition to the GOP hiring spree, Google has joined Republican organizations in Washington such as the Ripon Institute, said Ralph Hellmann, a tech lobbyist with the Information Technology Industry Council. And Schmidt himself will travel to Florida in time to attend Thursday night’s Fox News-Google GOP debate.

Are Republicans such cheap dates?

Just this past weekend, Eric Schmidt took to the airwaves to demand more federal spending and more federal stimulus plans. He denounced efforts to balance the budget as “ludicrous,” and he said the government needs to spend in order to create demand on the economy. It’s clear the relationship with the GOP is one of convenience as opposed to one of conviction.