I saw both Edwards and Kerry asked about this here in New Hamphsire.

Edwards:

Actually, I was the one who asked Edwards. There wasn't much time to answer but his response was consistent with that news quote: "I'm a big fan of space exploration, I think space is great! But Bush's Mars plan... (pause) I disagree about the priorities".

Sounded sincere and enthusiastic, but Edwards *always* sounds sincere and enthusiastic.

Given the budget realities, I'd count that as non-support. The bottom line is that what will be needed are answers like, "I think this is an essential goal for our great nation and instead of questioning whether we should do it, we in Congress should be asking how we can make it happen".

Kerry

Kerry sounded much more pessimistic in person. His answer was basically:

-- scoffed at the very idea of going to Mars when needs are so pressing here in the US. "I think this president is the one on Mars" or something like that.
-- said something perfunctory about maintaining our scientific and techological base
-- said his priority for NASA would be to fulfill our international commitments by focussing on the space station. Basically, "I'm a firm believer in more of same, don't rock the boat".

Not much excitement, even by Kerry standards

One note -- Clark is actually the one who sounded like his heart was in it. I think he endorsed the Bush plan or at least said nice things about it. And in a radio interview here he got asked about space and gave an answer that was weak on physics but right on attitude: he talked about how important space would be, how humans were a race of explorers, how he was sure that someday we'd figure out how to break the lightspeed barrier because he couldn't imagine we'd be stuck in this one solar system forever. Sounded like someone who does look up and think, "We're gonna go VISIT those places someday, damnit!". Doesn't mean he would have made smart choices about policy, funding, and technology in the near term but I liked the spirit.