Three Republican Stooges vs. Science: who *not* to vote for

{ Audio this essay @ .5MB @ 3Min. } Last Thursday night when the Republican party’s 10 candidates for president were trying to introduce themselves to the American consciousness, they were asked whether they believed in Evolution. Three of these — Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas; Mike Huckabee, former governor of Arkansas; and Representative Tom Tancredo of Colorado — indicated they did not believe in Evolution.

Such a position by any politician is a deal-breaker for obtaining my vote. It shows one (or perhaps both) of two things: (1) that such a politician is inadequately educated in the sciences so as to be unworthy to lead at a national level; or, (2) that s/he is the kind of politician willing to lie about his or her personal beliefs in order to appease a scientifically illiterate constituency, so as to stay in, or gain, political power.

On flaw one, such a pseudo-leader could not make informed policy decisions about stem-cells or other biology-based technology advances. Thus, the economy and scientific literacy of a nation is threatened, which is not in the best interests of the American voter.

On flaw two, instead of trying to inform and educate the constituency, such a pseudo-leader chooses to lie in order to remain (or gain) power; thus, these types of flawed politicians greatly increase the likelihood of implementing dangerously inadequate policies which make the uninformed and/or voluntarily ignorant the standard for policy evaluation. (Note: although there are indeed times that a politician should publicly lie in the best interests of a nation, lies about long- and well- established scientific issues are never in that best interest.)

In light of just these simple concerns, a scientifically informed and responsible conservative should not vote for these three stooges:

Sam Brownback, Senator - Kansas
Mike Huckabee, ex-governor - Arkansas
Tom Tancredo,. Representative - Colorado


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