It's Google's presidency. We're just watching it. Six Google executives, including CEO Eric Schmidt and cofounder Larry Page, have donated $25,000 apiece to fund President Barack Obama's swearing-in party.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Google is actively launching a venture capital arm. David Drummond, who currently doubles as chief legal officer and head of corporate development, will run the group. Details are still fuzzy, but you can read more at the WSJ and TechCrunch.

(Yang) said 'If we do this deal with Google, Yahoo will become part of Google's pole and Microsoft,' he said, 'would not be strong enough in this market to remain a pole of its own.

Microsoft's bid for Yahoo may have been dropped at a meeting in Washington state, but it was lost in Washington, D.C. Google's first word on the prospective deal, from top lawyer David Drummond, was of the cominbation's monopoly in email and instant messaging. That proved the last word, too. By making Yahoo fearful of regulatory scrutiny, Drummond and his lobbyists were able to put steel in Jerry Yang and David Filo's backbones to hold out for a higher price, and demand other conditions besides. The notion that Microsoft might pursue a Yahoo bid and have it nixed, leaving Yahoo incurably weakened, may give Yang and Filo some protection from inevitable shareholder lawsuits. But Google, by keeping Yahoo out of Microsoft's hands, is the real winner.

Why is an AT&T lawyer peddling scare stories about the Internet running out of capacity by 2010? To frighten lawmakers. Jim Cicconi, AT&T's vice president of legislative affairs, surely doesn't believe that "in three years' time, 20 typical households will generate more traffic than the entire Internet today," as he told Westminster eForum attendees in London. It's just a line that sounds good.

European antitrust regulators will approve Google's $3.1 billion DoubleClick acquisition later this week, the Financial Times reports. Expect Google's top lawyer David Drummond to soon turn up the heat on Microsoft-Yahoo. Before the EU finally approved Google-DoubleClick, Drummond had reason to stay relatively quiet as the new company formed by Microsoft-Yahoo would obviously create real competition for Google. But with EU approval in hand, that incentive is finished. Last fall, Google CEO Eric Schmidt credited Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer with slowing down Google-DoubleClick in Washington and abroad. Think he isn't eager to set his own suits on the attack?

The Republican National Convention has released a press release touting Google as the "Official Innovation Provider" to the 2008 Convention. Google will "enhance the GOP's online presence with new applications, search tools, and interactive video. In addition, Google will help generate buzz and excitement in advance of the convention through its proven online marketing techniques." I can only imagine the childlike joy that Google will bring to delegates.

Senator Clinton polls higher than Senator Obama in Santa Clara County, 43 percent to 27 percent, a Clinton campaign staffer told the Wall Street Journal. But we know what really counts in Silicon Valley: money. And when it comes to raising cash, Barack Obama's winning over the tech crowd. He raised about $500,000 just last weekend at a breakfast in Atherton. Wondering who was there? Here's a list of known Silicon Valley supporters for each candidate.

Google's purchase of YouTube for $1.65 billion last year birthed the current climate of Valley exuberance. Without that purchase, it's hard to imagine seeing, for instance, Facebook valued at a lofty $15 billion. But we hear that the deal hit one last-minute, off-the-wall snag.

Google likes to push the edge of the law whenever it can. That, of course, makes David Drummond the perfect man to serve as its chief legal officer. He's just settled accusations that, as chief financial officer of SkillSoft, he allowed the company to book revenue improperly. He'll pay a $125,000 fine and forfeit $574,000 in gains. Drummond, naturally, has neither admitted nor denied culpability. Which is a bit like his employer saying, "Don't be evil. But don't not be, either."