Matt Reed

FLORIDA TODAY columnist

Maybe Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton aren’t desperate enough yet to win the most important region in the biggest battleground state.

If they were, they would have visited Florida’s Space Coast by now or said something meaningful about the space program.

They would have asked the I-4 Corridor’s swing voters to trust them with one of America’s greatest sources of technical innovation and our region’s most powerful economic engine.

They might have sent good potential surrogates on the issue, Newt Gingrich and Tim Kaine, to tour Kennedy Space Center and say how their ticket will do better than President Obama.

They surely would have asked speechwriters for a line or two on how space exploration fits their vision for a better America.

“You can’t make America great again without a great space program,” said Dale Ketcham, Chief of Strategic Alliance at Space Florida.

See how easy it is?

Instead, they have missed an opportunity to win important votes while standing up for a mission that Americans everywhere still believe in.

Make America great

NASA may account for less than 1 percent of the federal government. But space remains a hot election issue here. Flights with astronauts could resume starting next year through contractors SpaceX and Boeing while work continues on NASA’s massive SLS rocket and Orion capsule for flights to the moon or Mars. Timing, success and jobs all ride on presidential priorities.

So I set out to discern where Trump, Clinton and their parties stand.

They haven’t given us much to go on.

In an “ask me anything” session on Reddit on July 27, Trump said, “Honestly, I think NASA is wonderful! America has always led the world in space exploration.”

But at a rally in Daytona Beach seven days later, he said: “Look what’s happened with your employment. Look what’s happened with our whole history of space and leadership. Look what’s going on, folks. We’re like a Third World nation.”

Sounds like a man without a firm position. He ought to state one.

How about demanding we move faster to quit counting on the Russians for rides to the space station, or vowing to be the first superpower back to the moon or Mars?

Or (hint, hint), Trump could point to the public-private partnerships between NASA, the Department of Defense and commercial companies as examples of how to reinvent government and cut deficits – as the 2016 Republican Party platform does: “The entrepreneurship and innovation culture of the free market is revitalizing the nation’s space capabilities, saving taxpayer money, and advancing technology critical to maintain America’s edge in space and in other fields.”

'National commitment'

Hillary Clinton, meanwhile, loves to tell the story about writing to NASA as a girl to get information on how to become an astronaut (NASA wrote back that only men could become astronauts then). And during a town hall meeting on C-SPAN, Clinton said, "I really, really do support the space program."

Clinton has said she supports commercial space ventures, but thinks NASA should lead in exploration and new discoveries.

OK, tell us more, Mrs. Clinton.

Would a Clinton space program include keeping the Space Launch System rocket and Orion capsule on track for big things someday? Or will Central Florida suffer another massive program cancellation, causing layoffs, years of wasted work and billions of dollars in mothballed hardware?

“Today’s dynamic and competitive global economy demands an ambitious national commitment to technology, innovation and entrepreneurship,” states Clinton’s website.

With that in mind, standing up for space should be an easy fit. And what better backdrop for doing so than the Cape?

As the 2016 Democratic Party platform says: “Space exploration is a reminder that our capacity for curiosity is limitless, and may be matched only by our ability to achieve great things if we work together… We will strengthen support for NASA and work in partnership with the international scientific community to launch new missions to space.”

If Clinton’s campaign believes that, too, she should come here and tell us.

Rockets and space exploration may represent only a tiny part of the federal government. But they play an outsized role in American innovation, leadership and patriotism.

Space is a big deal to Central Floridians who could very well decide the next president.

Contact Reed at mreed@floridatoday.com. Follow him at Facebook.com/MattReedNews or on Twitter @MattReedWrites.