New York - Google (NASD: GOOG) CEO Eric Schmidt has announced that he will back Sen. Barack Obama, and join him on the campaign trail starting with an event in Florida on Tuesday, The Wall Street Journal reported.

"I'm doing this personally," Schmidt told The Journal, adding that "Google is officially neutral" in the campaign.

To this point, Schmidt has not donated money to either campaign, although Google staffers have contributed $487, 355 to Obama and $20,600 to Sen. John McCain.

Schmidt has been unofficially advising the Obama campaign on technology and energy issues.

The Journal cited "some tech and media executives" who speculate that Schmidt may be interested in a role in a potential Obama administration, such as the chief technology officer post that Obama has alluded to creating.

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