What Went Down At The January Democratic Debate

When I was asking readers earlier today what science issues mattered to them, I got a lot of responses about the importance of funding scientific research. As I listen to this debate about military spending and war, I’m sort of struck by how seldom we engage with the reality that federal science funding began with military spending and is still heavily tied up in that. In some ways, we have a strong history of science funding BECAUSE we also have a long history of high military spending.

I do think it’s a sign of how much fatigue there is around war in the Middle East that most of the candidates are talking about deescalation/the dangers of Trump’s actions in Iran without seeming to worry about whether voters will think they look weak on national security.

I’m going to agree that it’s hard to get a lot out of this, though it’s definitely fascinating to discuss the authorization of the use of military force and the role of Congress. I’m just not sure voters are going to differentiate much from it.