After Barack Obama, the Democratic presidential candidate, expressed his support for NASA, John McCain, the Republican candidate for the White House considered it was high time he released a statement with regard to the Space Administration as well.

Last weekend, while in Florida, Barack Obama said he fully supported NASA and wanted the United States to be the first when talking space exploration. He intends to get astronauts to land on the Moon and afterwards, on Mars. When approaching the delicate issue of funding, Barack Obama stated he supported a $2 billion funds increase but added that NASA should be more efficient in identifying its priorities and passing them on to taxpayers.

On Monday, John McCain came with a rather surprising statement when he openly attacked Barack Obama by saying that, despite his recently declared intentions, he had actually suggested that NASA’s budget should be reduced. He went on to say he knew for a fact that Obama, at one point, felt that going back to the moon and landing on Mars did not represent priorities.

His speech also included a part in which he said it usually is quite difficult to know what politicians will do once they get elected, as they say so many things to so many people along the way. He then stopped generalizing and singled out Sen. Barack Obama, referring to him as a candidate with "a short, thin record on the issues," in the case of which the aforementioned problem is even more actual than it is with others.

John McCain added he truly sees the great importance of space exploration and that he is definitely against any sort of NASA budget cuts.