McCain bashes Obama on NASA

John McCain opened a new front today to bash Democratic rival Barack Obama, accusing him of straddling on cutting the space program.

Last year in New Hampshire, Obama suggested delaying NASA's mission to Mars to help fund education improvements. But earlier this month in Florida, he appeared to back away from any NASA cuts.

Today at a business roundtable at the Astronaut Planetarium at Brevard Community College in Cocoa Beach, Florida, McCain pledged to keep space exploration a top national priority.

"I know that earlier this year, Senator Obama proposed cutting the NASA budget and delaying the timetable for our return to the Moon and the Mars mission," McCain said, according to prepared remarks released by his campaign. "I believe that he later repudiated his own plan. Sometimes it is difficult to know what a politician will actually do once in office, because they say different things at different times to different people. This is a particular problem when a candidate has a short, thin record on the issues as in the case of Senator Obama.

"Let me say, just in case Senator Obama does decide to return to his original plan of cutting NASA funding – I oppose such cuts," McCain added. "That position is a shortsighted approach that fails to recognize the benefits of space exploration and the technology and economic advantages that result from the space program."