Google's CEO has been referred to as a "third leg" to co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, but Schmidt's technology management credentials are hard to beat: He has a PhD in computer science and ran Novell before being hired by Paige and Brin. , but has reportedly .

Lawrence Lessig

The Stanford Law School professor behind the Creative Commons movement would bring a deep understanding of technology law and policy to Washington. But Lessig's appointment would almost certainly be opposed by powerful legal and business interests -- and their friends in Congress -- for his stances on copyright reform and other issues. He has no experience running a large technology organization, which makes this rumor hard to believe.

Ed Felten

Felten is whose areas of expertise include security, privacy, and open-source technologies. He may understand software and Internet-related policies, but he doesn't have experience running a large organization.