ONly had a chance for quick question while shaking hands.

I asked: "Bush's space initiative -- thumbs up or thumbs down?".

He gave it an in between.

Edwards: "I'm a big fan of space. Going to the Moon would be great. But...." (hesitation)

I prompt "But you don't like this plan?"

Edwards: "I don't like this president's priorities."

And that was that.

I don't know if "priorities" refers to details of the plan, or to the thought of spending that much money given our budget situation. I take his response as, "More space exploration? Sounds great, wish we could, but times are tough right now".

That's still more positive than what I heard out of Kerry last night. No "wish we could" enthusiasim, just a boilerplate "let's focus on ISS and worry about problems on Earth for now".