Election day here in the United States is exactly a month away (elections will be held on Nov 4, 2008). Facing off are Barack Obama (Democrat), John McCain (Republican), and other insignificant politicians.

The public will decide who they like (yes, who they like, not who will make a better president), and this decision has the potential to make a huge impact on the way science is funded and science policy implemented over the next few years. In this context, a number of organizations have been making efforts to understand candidates’ attitudes towards science and get a feel of the likely state of US science in the near future.

Barack Obama accepted Nature’s invitation to answer 18 science policy related questions, while John McCain, the other candidate, refused to participate. Reading the answers does leave one with a feeling that both candidates actively support expanding the science budget, but as expected, differ in their priorities, and only one of them appears to have really thought the issue through (I don’t have to tell you which one).

There is also a ‘concerned citizens initiative’, now co-sponsored by the AAAS, which runs a website called Science Debate 2008 , which has been trying to gauge public opinion on various science and public policy issues. According the website, about 43% of sampled registered voters want public policy decisions to be based on science. I can only hope that the poll is right, and the margin of error is less than 40%.

If you are in the field of education, and would like to get more information about the US presidential election, visit the KQED site for a bunch of really usable facts- Election resources for educators

The website also has an interactive ‘You Decide’ section on the ‘No Child Left Behind’ act.

If there are any undecided among you, now is the time to make up your mind. Remember though, that the candidates are politicians; about face is always an option.

-Shailesh

PS: Corie Lok also has a blog post on this topic here