Scientists view both Obama, McCain as supportive
WASHINGTON -- Call it the political revenge of the nerds. For nearly eight years, many mainstream scientists have been frustrated with the Bush administration. They've claimed that science has been censored, ignored and politicized on issues from global warming to stem cells to evolution. Even the presidential science adviser was booted from the White House, forced to set up office down the street.
Both presidential candidates — Sen. John McCain and Sen. Barack Obama — offer policies farther from the president than they are from each other. They advocate mandatory caps on the main global warming gas and favor federal funding for embryonic stem cell research — positions opposite the Bush Administration.
Obama and McCain promise to seek, not censor, government science advice and to restore the White House science adviser's office.
The differences between them are more notable in the nuances of policy than in the broad brush of campaigns. Both have promised more money for scientific research, though the ongoing financial crisis may make that tough.
One science spending difference managed to creep into the second presidential debate, however. McCain ridiculed an unsuccessful Obama earmark attempt to get "$3 million for an overhead projector at a planetarium in Chicago, Ill. My friends, do we need to spend that kind of money?" McCain asked.
It turns out that wasn't just an old-fashioned overhead slide viewer, but a replacement for the 38-year-old star-and-planet projector in the Sky Theater at the Adler Planetarium, the first planetarium in the Western Hemisphere and located in Obama's home state.
For his part, Obama put spending for energy research ahead of health care and entitlement reform when asked in the debate to set priorities. He's called for an investment of $15 billion a year over 10 years.
"While on the surface it may look like they say the same thing ... when it comes to energy issues, you do get a little difference," said Syracuse University science and public policy professor Henry Lambright.
Related Stories
ABC News Live