Almost five years ago, a small group of individuals began to call for a Presidential candidate Science Debate. The idea quickly gained momentum, with support from dozens of Nobel laureates, the leaders of over 100 major universities, prestigious scientific organizations (among them AAAS, the National Academies of Science and Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine), and tens of thousands of American citizens. From thousands of submitted questions, a list of 14 was eventually developed. Science Debate 2008 had bipartisan Congressional co-chairs, a television deal with NOVA, and even rented a venue. Unfortunately, although both the McCain and Obama campaigns produced written answers in 2008, neither side agreed to make science the topic of a debate.
The story in 2012 has been very much the same — tremendous support for a colloquy on the important scientific issues to be faced in the next few decades, a set of 14 serious questions, written answers but no debate. This cycle, the editors of Scientific American graded the Obama and Romney responses:
To make our determination, we invited readers to send us leads and solicited input from our board of advisers and other subject-matter experts. We scored the candidates’ answers on a five-point scale (with five being best), using the following criteria: how directly and completely they answered the question; scientific accuracy; feasibility (including economic viability and clear accounting for both revenues and costs); potential benefits to health, education and the environment; and sustainability (meaning how well the proposed solutions balance the needs of current and future generations).
While SA‘s evaluation found Romney to be more specific in his plans, and to have greater feasibility, Obama greatly exceeded Romney in scientific accuracy. In particular, Romney’s responses on climate change, ocean health, and freshwater “revealed an unfamiliarity with the evidence that shows how urgent these issues have become”. Also, as an opponent of Net Neutrality, Romney scored 0 on the question about the Internet.
The Science Debate people presented a subset of their questions — those particularly relevant to the Evergreen State — to the candidates for Governor of Washington. The issues on that list were:
- Innovation
- Climate Change
- Education
- Ocean Health
- Vaccination and Public Health
- Science in Public Policy
As would be expected from the author of a well-received book on green energy, Jay Inslee provided extensive and detailed answers to the six queries.
Rob McKenna’s responses, in full, are displayed below:
McKenna was invited to answer the questions on six different occasions. He failed to reply to any of the invitations. Even on what is allegedly his signature issue — education — his silence was deafening. In his typical weaselly fashion, McKenna opted to say nothing whatsoever instead of revealing his Republican anti-scientific orientation. He’ll do anything not to offend the teahadist GOP base in Washington while passively thumbing his nose at the reality-based voters in the Puget Sound environs.
Playing mute has worked for McKenna in the past; it worked well (and may almost have been appropriate) when he was running for a statewide service position. But after Dino Rossi’s twin failures to fool enough people in gubernatorial — that is, executive — elections, we the people of Washington are onto these barefaced attempts by conservative Republicans to bamboozle us.
If you haven’t already mailed in your ballot, what are you waiting for? Vote for Inslee (and Obama, Cantwell, Ferguson, Drew, Goldmark, Kreidler, McCloud, et al.), seal it up, and drop it in the mail!
seal it up, and drop it in the mail!
Or better yet, put it in a county election’s dept drop box.
King County ballot drop boxes –
http://www.kingcounty.gov/elec.....boxes.aspx
Pierce County ballot drop boxes –
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms.....#038;msa=0
Snohomish County ballot drop boxes –
http://www1.co.snohomish.wa.us.....op_Box.htm
Thurston County ballot drop boxes –
http://www.co.thurston.wa.us/a.....pboxes.htm
Who needs science, We have God! You know the guy everyone obeys…..no swearing, no stealing, no murders, no infidelity, etc….you know all the stuff that really matters.
What’s the point? McKenna didn’t answer, Inslee answered largely with platitudes and didn’t answer the question asked in some of them. Virtually no specifics – the vaccination answer is an excellent example of what I’m talking about.
McKenna decides not to reply, Inslee gives half-ass answers, and it’s a reason to vote for Inslee?
A more reasoned assessment is that Inslee’s prone to give half-ass responses to questions.
Straight up bullshit, again, Robert. He gave answers perfectly appropriate to such a questionnaire.
You’re just not trustworthy. It’s not that you present a right-wing answer that’s disagreeable, it’s that you lie relentlessly, and package the lies with unctuous self-congratulation.
“Virtually no specifics” “half-ass”
Such a half-ass whine. Probably because you’re always fine with a virtually no specifics when it comes to your own half-assed candidates.
When asked why he didn’t return the science questionnaire, McKenna replied “Get a job!”
@6
lol
@3 The best reason to vote for Inslee is he’s not a Republican. The GOP, in its zeal to pander to its crazy supporters, has gone so far downhill that the overriding imperative of American politics today is keeping Republicans out of public offices. Republicans are so dishonest, corrupt, incompetent, and irresponsible that the election of any Republican to any office anywhere is a public disaster.
Folks,
Of course McKenna didn’t answer. He is very busy trying to figure out how it is that light rail can work on a floating bridge—It goes completely against his scientific, engineering and religious education.
And in any case, you didn’t expect him to waste his time with organizations as shady as the National Academy of Sciences, the AAAS, American Geosciences Institute, American Institute of Physics, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine, and the IEEE, do you?
Get real!
@9 I can’t understand why McKenna doesn’t see it. Light rail walks on water.
Shorter N(ut) in Seattle: be a partisan lemming and vote the party line!
@11 Said the pot to the kettle …
At this point, I want to remind everyone that it was the Republicans who dragged American politics into the gutter and turned it into tribal warfare.
@11:
If Piltdown Man wasn’t a hoax (as well as an HA troll), you might have noticed that a) Sheryl Gordon McCloud is running for Supreme Court, a nonpartisan position, and b) I didn’t mention a number of the statewide offices on the ballot.
As it happens, I did not vote for the Democratic candidate for every one of those offices. Yes, I voted for the ones I mentioned, but that’s not true for all of them.
Can you say the same of the ilk of Romney, Baumgartner, Dunn, Wyman, Didier, Adams, and Sanders? To say nothing of Finkbeiner, Hanek, and Watkins, along with the Republicans running in your Congressional and Legislative Districts … and of course Eyman’s clearly-unconstitutional initiative.
Which (Tea) party line candidates did you deny the favor of your slavish support?
I have not voted yet.
that was a real lame attempt N(ut) in Seattle.
fail.
@15:
Deflecting much, Mr. Hoax? Allow me to update my comment:
Afraid to allow the HA public to know where you’re coming from? (As if we don’t already know … the only real question is which knee you jerk.)
@16
“Jerk” being the operative word when dealing with Piltdown.
ahh yes – I get it now. N(ut) in Seattle votes as a partisan lemming, and therefore assumes that everyone else does the same.
Who I vote for is my business you fucking retard – but just to show that I am a good sport, I will say that I am slightly(and ever so slightly) leaning towards Obama.
@17
you are one to talk, jackass. Dont you have something “scientify” to go do? or is it another day of “working on the house”?
I use to vote qualified Republicans. Unfortunately qualified Republicans have become extremely rare.
qualified politicians as a whole are a rare breed these days.
Piltdown Man @ 18,
“I get it now. N(ut) in Seattle votes as a partisan lemming, and therefore assumes that everyone else does the same.”
No…you don’t get it at all, Squirt.
You accused N in Seattle of voting party line (@ 11).
He pointed out that he didn’t…
“As it happens, I did not vote for the Democratic candidate for every one of those offices.”
..but posited that you will. You dodged answering his query directly, until:
“…just to show that I am a good sport, I will say that I am slightly(and ever so slightly) leaning towards Obama.”
Well, good on you, Squirt. But what we know is that when you said:
“N(ut) in Seattle votes as a partisan lemming”
…you were wrong.
And when N in Seattle said you were a partisan lemming, he has yet to be demonstrated wrong….
You fail.
@21
N(ut) in Seattle has not demonstrated anything.
All the Nut said was that he voted for (1) non-partisan person.
Big Fucking Deal.
you lose, squirt.
go grade some papers and stop wasting tax payer money.
good day.
Piltdown Man @ 22,
“All the Nut said was that he voted for (1) non-partisan person.”
You’re fucken’ dumb as dirt, aren’t ya, Squirt!
What part of “As it happens, I did not vote for the Democratic candidate for every one of those offices” don’t you understand?
Please try to engage your brain before leaving a comment.
IIRC, Piltdown Man was all bone, no brain, and a phoney to boot!
and a phoney that fooled all the scientists..heh.
then perhaps N(ut) in Seattle can tell us which Republicans he voted for.
or not, because I dont really give a shit. You all have proven what partisan lemmings and hacks you are – you just need to own up to it.
@25 The difference between you and them is they admit their errors.
LOL! Translation: by the time this asshat puts pen to the ballot, it’s in the tank for the guy who’ll cut his taxes the most, make the rich the richest, the poor the poorest and start a new war for oil for him to watch on Faux News spilling gushers of blood from the guys with the funny last names..
Willard Romney.
I’m curious – what informs your thinking on this?
how funny…YLBloated talking about income taxes, when he doesnt pay ANY….
YLBloated, just another freeloading tool…
From Wikipedia, on Piltdown man…
Science works. It’s naive in a way – the community generally believed the liar, though there were skeptics from the beginning. The progression of the field – through other, bona fide fossils that were subsequently found, and dating techniques improved. The lie was exposed and discarded.
Oh wow, even an asshat can “evolve”. At one time it wasn’t ANY taxes..
No this is funny:
as cited above and
Funny in that it’s such fucking bullshit.