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His running mate may be raising the ire of scientists with her positions on creationism and wildlife conservation, but Republican presidential nominee John McCain is touting his tech cred. In a page out of the Al Gore playbook, McCain boasts that "under my guiding hand, Congress developed a wireless spectrum policy that spurred the rapid rise of mobile phones and Wi-Fi technology."

McCain's remark today was in response to 14 science-policy questions posed to him and Democratic opponent Barack Obama. The Arizona senator's replies are published online by Science Debate 2008, a group of science and business leaders. (Obama answered the group's queries about three weeks ago.)

Gore, of course, famously contended that he "took the initiative in creating the Internet" — a comment mocked 'round the world. Now, McCain says he's "uniquely qualified to lead" America in technology because of his work with scientists and engineers during his Navy service from 1959 – 1981. In addition to his role in the wi-fi/cell phone revolution, McCain chaired the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation (from 1997-2001 and again from 2003-2005) when Republicans controlled Congress.

McCain's campaign didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking clarification on what wireless policy the senator is referring to, or his role in it.

U.S leadership in science and technology, he says, will be a "central priority" if he's elected to the Oval Office. Like Obama, McCain promises to institute a cap-and-trade policy to reduce Earth-warming carbon emissions, to foster privacy around genetic testing, and to restore the integrity of federally funded research that's been politicized under the Bush administration. He'd keep a science and tech advisor on hand in the White House but doesn't elaborate further. "Scientific research cannot succeed without integrity and trust," he says. "My own record speaks for integrity and putting the country first, not political agendas."

McCain also says he would invest in clean-coal technology, build 45 new nuclear reactors over the next 22 years and offer $5,000 tax credits to Americans who buy zero-emission vehicles, which are not yet widely available.

McCain appears to have shifted his position on embryonic stem-cell research; he now says that he supports funding research that does "not involve the use of embryos." As The Scientist notes, McCain voted for the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2007, which would have made fertility clinic embryos set to be discarded available for research if donors consented. "I believe that we need to fund this," he said during an MSNBC presidential debate that year.

Obama says he would lift a federal ban on studying embryonic stem-cell lines created after Aug. 9, 2001. A blow-by-blow comparison of the candidates' positions on other topics can be found on the Science Debate 2008 Web site.

(Image from United States Congress)

8 Comments

1. 1. drdale 06:04 PM 9/15/08

   I find it very disingenuous for a candidate that admits he does not use computers and does not use e-mail (without assistance) to claim credit for encouraging a technology he was most likely unaware of before members of his campaign decided to push it.

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2. 2. candide 06:05 PM 9/15/08

   Yeah, he invented wireless.
   
   Politicians should just keep their mouths shut more often.

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3. 3. juanvaldez13 08:05 PM 9/15/08

   Seriously? This is the same guy who two months ago said that he did not know how to access the internet, and now he's a "tech guy". And to think that nearly half of this country supports this dolt.

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4. 4. jjam19 in reply to juanvaldez13 08:41 AM 9/16/08

   well its not that he doesn't know how to access the internet, its just the slight fact he can't lift his arms high enough to type because he was tortured.. .somewhat of a difference

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5. 5. billyliberty in reply to jjam19 04:08 PM 9/16/08

   Uh, so now we're using the POW card to defend McCain against accusations of being a bit ignorant in regard to technology?
   
   I didn't realize that you had to lift your arms up high to type. I guess I've been doing this all wrong!

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6. 6. KeithIrwin 11:45 PM 9/16/08

   The FCC cleared the ISM band for use with wireless LAN in 1985. McCain joined the Commerce Committee which oversees the FCC in 1987. He didn't really have much to do with setting that policy.

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7. 7. Bradley 05:12 AM 9/18/08

   Please do not vote for this man. His credentials are this: He once volunteered to drop bombs on anyone, anywhere, anytime for money, glory, misguided patriotism, and unfortunately in the end only for the sake of politicians who for the most part were dead wrong or lying about Viet Nam for over a decade. It is not a sign of valuable patriotism or wisdom to get shot down while engaging in warfare. As attributed to General George Patton, "No poor bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. Wars are won by making some other poor bastard die for his country." The war cost 50,000 American lives and many more Vietnamese lives. It accomplished nothing but misery and unnecessary suffering. It is unfortunate that Mr. McCain got captured and tortured but that in and of itself is not a reason to follow him or to abandon knowledge and reasoning in favor of jingoisms, misleading statements and outright lies. Recently Mr. McCain claimed that the passengers on Flight 93 gave up their lives (i.e., crashed a plane on purpose) in order to stop the plane from crashing into the Capitol in D.C. It is very unlikely that the passengers intended to crash the plane. Almost certainly their intention was to stop the plane from crashing anywhere, if at all possible. Mr. McCain let us know that he believes it is a noble thing to die for America, but in fact it is more noble to live for America. Mr. McCain quoted his god Jesus, from the Bible, to let us know that he believes we have God on our side. There are others in this world who have similar ideas, but different gods and different national loyalties. Such thinking is low, stupid, irrational. No good can come from it. (It seems every politician in America has a god on our side.) Please dare to try something different, even if it takes courage to face the unknown without some politician making bold irrational claims to guide our thinking into sheep-like obedience. (His partner candidate also seems to be low on integrity and overly enthusiastic about the importance of fighting wars according to the will of some god.)
   

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8. 8. Tundra in reply to Bradley 12:03 PM 10/1/08

   Thank you for that douse of cynacism for the day. I can now see why there are actually people that think the Democrat has a chance of winning.

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