Obama for President: An Endorsement from Science Journal "Nature"
by Stacy Feldman - Nov 3rd, 2008
Nature, in its first endorsement of a presidential candidate ever, has chosen Barack Obama.
Yes, for the prestigious international journal, nothing short of the core values of scientific integrity in the United States are at stake in tomorrow's election:
The values of scientific enquiry, rather than any particular policy positions on science, suggest a preference for one US presidential candidate over the other.
Nature explains its "preference" for Obama:
On a range of topics, science included, Obama has surrounded himself with a wider and more able cadre of advisers than McCain. This is not a panacea. Some of the policies Obama supports — continued subsidies for corn ethanol, for example — seem misguided. The advice of experts is all the more valuable when it is diverse: 'groupthink' is a problem in any job. Obama seems to understands this. He tends to seek a range of opinions and analyses to ensure that his own opinion, when reached, has been well considered and exposed to alternatives. He also exhibits pragmatism — for example in his proposals for health-care reform — that suggests a keen sense for the tests reality can bring to bear on policy.
Some will find strengths in McCain that they value more highly than the commitment to reasoned assessment that appeals in Obama. But all the signs are that the former seeks a narrower range of advice. Equally worrying is that he fails to educate himself on crucial matters; the attitude he has taken to economic policy over many years is at issue here. Either as a result of poor advice, or of advice inadequately considered, he frequently makes decisions that seem capricious or erratic. The most notable of these is his ill-considered choice of Sarah Palin, the Republican governor of Alaska, as running mate. Palin lacks the experience, and any outward sign of the capacity, to face the rigours of the presidency.
Meanwhile, the apolitical science magazine Seed echoes Nature in its own endorsement of Obama:
It is abundantly evident that science can refuel economic growth, address the energy and climate challenge, and help restore America's soft power around the world. President Bush dismissed this potential, turned the very act of defying science into an art, and in so doing diminished US competitiveness and disenfranchised the country's source of innovation. His administration not only disregarded evidence time and time again but also rejected and debased the very enterprise that offered that evidence. Renewing the promise of science starts first and foremost with restoring scientific integrity to government.
Sen. Obama's pledged stance on science resonates with us.
Apparently, Obama's commitment to federal investments in science resonates with Nobel Laureates, as well.
Seventy-six of them have publicly endorsed him for president (letter here, pdf). That's the largest number of Nobel prize winners ever to endorse a particular candidate for office.
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