Update on Sciencedebate 2008
Feb 19, 2008
It's been a month since we first wrote about our support for Sciencedebate 2008, the grassroots campaign to hold a presidential debate focused on science and technology issues.
Since then, the organizers have set a date and location (April 18th at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia), invited the candidates (no takers yet) and picked up key endorsements by the Council on Competitiveness, the American Association for the Advancement of Science and others.
The momentum is there. But will that be enough to convince the candidates to face off in a science and technology-focused debate?
Over the weekend, AAAS hosted what might be considered a dry run when it invited the candidates' science and technology advisors to debate each other at the organization's annual meeting in Boston. None of the Republican candidates' campaigns accepted the invite, which left two surrogates for Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama.
Clinton advisor Thomas Kalil, once President Bill Clinton's deputy assisitant for technology and economic policy, and Alec Ross, vice president of external affairs for One Economy Corporation and an advisor to Sen. Obama outlined their candidates' positions on digital health, funding for research and cleantech but were "noncommittal" about the April debate. (Note: Mr. Ross will be among the speakers at Tech Policy Summit next month).
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