Eleven Nobel laureates, nine congressmen, multiple university presidents, and the heads of numerous science organizations have signed a petition calling for a presidential science debate this year. “Science and engineering have driven half the nation’s growth in GDP over the last half-century, and lie at the center of many of the major policy and economic challenges the next president will face,” says Alan Leshner, CEO of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. “We feel that a presidential debate on science would be helpful to America’s national political dialogue.”
It’s not surprising that the candidates haven’t jumped at the idea. Global-warming- and evolution-denying Republicans would look hilarious in such a forum, but even Democrats might worry about making a gaffe while weighing in on debates that are normally left to the experts. Still, it seems like an idea Democrats should take seriously. By signaling to voters that science is important, it would drum up support for the party’s ideas, and, more fundamentally, lay out how post-Middle-Ages worldview translates into superior leadership.
