The Obama campaign forwarded to me the following statement (not available on the campaign web site, as best as I can tell) ostensibly about World Space Week, which started Saturday and runs through the 10th. Reading through it, though, it’s clearly designed to differentiate Obama from McCain on space policy, particularly for Florida audiences:
Senator Barack Obama issued the following statement today on World Space Week and the 50th Anniversary of the inception of NASA:
“This week, we join more than 50 nations around the world in celebrating World Space Week. And this year, as we mark the 50th anniversary of NASA, our space program is at a crossroads.
As other countries are moving forward in space, my opponent’s vision would cause us to fall unacceptably behind. His pledge to freeze all discretionary spending for programs other than veterans and defense would assure the loss of thousands of jobs in Florida, and seriously threaten America’s leadership in space. I have a different vision. My plan to revitalize our space program will reduce the gap between the Space Shuttle’s retirement and its next-generation replacement; and we’ll increase funding for a robust human space exploration program and research that pushes the very boundaries of discovery.
Throughout its history, NASA has united Americans to a common purpose and inspired the world with accomplishments we are still proud of. As President, I will lead NASA down a new path for the 21st century that guarantees our preeminence in space today, tomorrow, and the day NASA celebrates its 100th anniversary.â€
Which Obama do we believe? He originally wanted to delay Constellation to fund education in an attempt to better educate our children for high tech jobs. The only problem is that in doing so he would have eliminated many of those high tech jobs. Now, after learning how unpopular this position was, particularly in the battleground state of Florida, his position has changed to a NASA supporter. I can only hope he has come to a new realization of NASA’s importance and is not just playing politics.
Ross,
Well, given that Obama has totally repudiated his earlier position, I would think that the answer to your question is obvious. Of course, if you still want to believe otherwise, or that changing your position after careful consideration is somehow wrong, then I guess you are of course entitled to that position.
Ross;
What happened to the Ross that used to think it showed responsibility to allow one-self to be educated and then change a previous position based on that education? Where did he go? As has been stated many times before, he long ago acknowledged that his initial position was uninformed, and that his new position was based on validated facts.
So would you rather have a President who is willing to align his position with validated facts, or insist that the facts be spun to validate his position?
Chuck
It is quite admirable to get educated on a topic and then establish a position. However, I would expect a US Senator to be educated on NASA. And even if we cut Obama some slack due to his short tenure in the US Senate, I would expect a US Presidential Candidate to become educated on NASA (or any other major topic) before formulating a policy on that topic. You are basically saying that it is okay that Obama changed his mind because he didn’t take the time to learn about the topic first. Is that really a good thing?
But even if we except that he hastily formed his initial policy, then we must accept that his gut (that part of us that we use to make decisions when we don’t have any knowledge on the subject) is anti-NASA. And what was it that made him decide to reevaluate his position? The only logical answer is that someone told him it was unpopular, particularly in Florida. This is the way politics and politicians work. I simply wanted to state my sincere hope that he will maintain his new position when it matters.
Ross,
I’m going to let you in on a little secret. Presidential Candidates don’t actually read all of the draft policy positions put out in their names. They’re way too busy giving speeches, meeting with donors, answering reporters’ questions, and convincing editorial boards of their viability… to read and edit everything their campaign puts out.
The reality is that some education staffers wrote an education plank that stole money from NASA. They didn’t check with the space advisors. They just did it. Eventually, that got overturned *by the candidate* when he had a chance to focus on it.
Everything else is just spin.
– Jim
P.S. Most people have no clue how busy federal elected officials are.
They are *overwhelmed* with information and action requests.
Especially Senators from populous states like Illinois.
Ross,
To add to what Muncy was saying – Its a bit of a leap to go from space is not a priority, to anti-space. The 2 are not the same position. Also, I’d like to see proof that the only reason an elected official would change their position is because of popularity.
For example, if everyone remembers from the 2000 election, Bush was very much a free marketer, and yet look at what is happening with the situation on Wall St. An elected official/politicians position can evolve for any number of reasons – sometimes its a simple as polling, sometimes its because of new information.
And there is quite a bit of truth in what Muncy said.
[…] year ran from October 4 to today, prompted statements from both presidential candidates. On Sunday the Obama campaign issued its statement, and yesterday the McCain campaign quietly released its own World Space Week statement. While the […]