I regret to inform you that I am not one of the coveted swing voters in Missouri, where polls show Obama and McCain within 1% of one another. Somehow, Missourians managed to pick the winner in all but one presidential election for the past 100 years. I’m not certain that this something to be proud of; if anything, it suggests that we vote for who we think will win, not who we’d like to win.

It is reasonable to assume that the next president of the United States will have a substantial effect on the direction of primary research in this country. Under President Bush we’ve seen a plateau and then a decline of basic research funding, with dire consequences on the research community. With NIH applications funding at the 8% level, the government budget for basic research is a key issue for me. Unfortunately, neither candidate has offered a satisfactory solution to the research budget crisis. Obama has promised to double the NIH budget over 10 years (not enough), and McCain’s campaign refuses to give any firm number for a budget increase (not helpful at all!). Furthermore, McCain’s live-debate promises of an “across the board spending freeze” seem to suggest that there will be no budget increase at all.

There are, of course, a number of scientific issues where the candidates’ positions differ. The journal Science recently made a laudable effort to profile candidate positions on a dozen important issues. Unfortunately, McCain’s campaign has been less forthcoming about his positions on numerous scientific issues (e.g. stem cells, intelligent design), and this gives me pause. In these cases I can only assume that he’s withholding a position with which most scientists would disagree.

Campaign promises are one thing. Basic understanding of effective scientific policy is another. According to a recent editorial in Nature, Obama has surrounded himself with a better cadre of scientific advisers. That speaks to a desire not only to have the best scientific advice, but to listen to it. Speaking of scientific understanding, don’t even get me started on Sarah Palin, whose casual dismissal of the importance of fruit fly research has the entire model organism community in an uproar.

I suspect that most scientists, like me, have already made a decision for this election. Thus my message is not intended to sway anyone, but to remind scientists to GET OUT AND VOTE! Yes, there are important analyses to be done, crucial lab work to be performed, career-making manuscripts to write. Nevertheless, all of us can spare an hour or two to make our democratic voices heard.