Campaigns Compete For Space Votes

A day before Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain's scheduled visit to the Space Coast, Democratic candidate Sen. Barack Obama has released a radio ad touting his pledge to increase NASA funding.

The ad features Sen. Bill Nelson, who says the additional $2 billion and an extra shuttle flight would reduce layoffs expected at Kennedy Space Center when the shuttle is retired.

The McCain campaign this week affirmed the candidate's support for a similar funding increase, contradicting the ad's claim that McCain wants to freeze NASA's budget.

McCain had proposed a spending freeze on non-defense, non-veteran programs because of the worsening economic crisis.

"Recently John McCain sent a letter to the President about the strategic challenge that our reliance on the Russians poses to the United States, and the need to preserve the option to continue shuttle flights beyond 2010," Mario Diaz, McCain's southeast regional communications director, said in a statement. "We must also redouble our efforts to advance progress on the Constellation program by committing to the additional funding needed to speed up progress to close the space gap."

McCain is expected to appear at the King Center at Brevard Community College's Melbourne campus around 4 p.m. Friday, according to the Brevard Republican Executive Committee. Tickets to the event are no longer available.

You can listen to the 60-second Obama radio ad here, or read the text below by clicking "Read more."

Here's the text of the Obama campaign's radio ad released today, titled "Freeze":

U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson: Hi, this is Senator Bill Nelson.
Here in Central Florida, America's space program is a way of life.
So, compare the two presidential candidates.
Barack Obama wants a two-billion-dollar increase for NASA, which would lessen the job losses expected at the Cape.
I advised Barack on his plan, and it also includes an additional space shuttle flight for science.
But John McCain's party mocks this proposal as, quote, "part of a liberal fiscal agenda."
And McCain even wants to freeze NASA spending at last year's level.
So layoffs would loom larger, and NASA would continue to be starved of funds for future exploration.
No wonder Florida Today wrote, "Obama trumped McCain on space."
This is Senator Bill Nelson,
And when it comes to protecting Space and NASA...
...the choice for President is clear.
Barack Obama.

BO: I'm Barack Obama, candidate for President. And I approve this message.

VO: Paid for by Obama for America.

IMAGE NOTE: Click on the image above to enlarge it. John McCain and Barack Obama are shown during their first presidential debate, on Sept. 26 at the University of Mississippi. Jim Lehrer of PBS moderated the debate. Photo source: Commission on Presidential Debates.