Campaign tidbits

A few minor items related to space policy and the presidential campaign:

• The Orlando Sentinel has a more complete transcript of Barack Obama’s comments about space policy he made in Florida on Wednesday. One statement that didn’t make it into the Florida Today video: “Now I know we’re transitioning from the shuttle to the Orion program and I am fully committed to making sure that is funded.” Also: “It is very important, though, because other countries — the Europeans, China — they are all in a position where they could potentially leapfrog us.”
• Meanwhile, Obama space supporters are planning a meeting on Saturday, May 31, during the International Space Development Conference in Washington DC. The purpose of the meeting, according to organizer Andrew Hoppin, is to make plans for “outreach to the aerospace community” as well as discuss Obama’s space policy platform. (One suggestion: how to reconcile statements like the above where Obama says he is committed to supporting Orion while also saying he wants to delay Constellation by five years.)
• In an editorial Friday, Florida Today asks both Obama and John McCain to provide more details about their space policies. Obama, the paper argues, should “flesh-out his position in far more detail” while McCain, who has proposed freezing non-defense discretionary spending for a year, should “spell out precisely what he does support.”