On Sunday Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton issued a statement “in support of U.S. aerospace and aviation”. The statement is largely a restatement of her October 2007 science policy and follow-up statements, with additional aviation-specific items. The section of greatest relevance to space policy:

Hillary will double NASA’s and FAA’s aeronautics R&D budgets as part of her plan to reverse the Bush administration’s war on science. She will pursue a balanced strategy of robust human spaceflight, expanded robotic spaceflight, and enhanced space and Earth science activities. She will speed development, testing, and deployment of next-generation launch and crew exploration vehicles to replace the aging Space Shuttle program. At the same time, Hillary’s innovation agenda calls for stimulating in-house research and commercial development by making the R&D tax credit permanent. She will also double federal investment in basic research, which is critical for ensuring that America is at the forefront of new ideas.

The one new item is the statement doubling NASA’a aeronautics budget (for which the Bush Administration proposed just under $450 million for FY2009); in her October statement she committed only to “make the financial investments in research and development necessary to shore up and expand our competitive edge.” The statement doesn’t indicate, though, how long it would take to phase in that doubling (would it take effect in FY2010, or would the budget gradually grow over a number of years?) and whether or not that additional aeronautics funding would come at the expense of other NASA programs.