The U.S. Pirate Party has announced their endorsement for Barack Obama for president.  Instead of running their own candidate, the party released a press release stating "We stand solidly behind Mr. Obama, as he is the only candidate that seems to realize that personal privacy is a right, not a privilege, and believes that copyright is, as the constitution defines, for progress, rather than profit."

I do not post this as an endorsement of the Pirate Party (I remain unaffiliated to maintain my journalistic integrity…).  I do, however, agree with the Pirate Party’s position that Obama has portrayed himself as the most tech friendly/savvy candidate.  This technology platform is an excellent start and well ahead of the nothing most other candidates have proposed.

My wonder is would being associated with the Pirate Party hurt a candidate, assuming anyone except the geekiest of geeks even heard about the endorsement.  The only mention of the endorsement comes from a personal profile page on BarackObama.com made by Pirates for Obama.  I’m sure that is just because the campaign is waiting for a major press conference.

The first Pirate Party (Piratpartiet) began in 2006 in Sweden where the party captured 34,918 votes (0.63 percent), making it the 10th biggest party in the country (out of 40).  The party also won 4.5 percent in mock school elections show popularity among youth.  The party boasts 9,600 members as of early 2007 in Sweden.  The U.S. Pirate Party began a few months later after the seizure of servers at Pirate Bay.org, a leading torrent tracking site, pushed by the United States government.

Updated 1-10-08