WASHINGTON — He shows a fascination with science, an all-too deliberate decision-making demeanor, an adherence to logic and some pretty, ahem, prominent ears.
They all add up to a quite logical conclusion, at least for “Star Trek” fans: President Barack Obama is Washington’s Mr. Spock, the chief science officer for the ship of state.
“I guess it’s somewhat unusual for a politician to be so precise, logical, in his thought process,” actor Leonard Nimoy, who has portrayed Spock for more than 40 years, told The Associated Press in an e-mail interview. “The comparison to Spock is, in my opinion, a compliment to him and to the character.”
Until now. Obama’s Spock-like qualities have started to cause him political problems. Critics see him as too technocratic, too deliberative, too lacking in emotion.
Obama’s protracted decision-making on a war strategy in Afghanistan, for example, prompted criticisms that he is too deliberate. Former Vice President Dick Cheney, former vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin and other conservatives faulted Obama for “dithering.”
Although it is the slow decision-making that has conservatives upset, especially when it comes to national security, it’s the science content of the presidential agenda that has the geeks insisting he has gone where no nerd has gone before.
Out in public, Obama turns the Bunsen burner up a notch, playing a combination of high school science teacher and math team cheerleader.
Last week, for example, the president announced that the White House would hold an annual science fair as part of a $260 million private push to improve math and science education.
“We’re going to show young people how cool science can be,” Obama said.
One October evening, 20 telescopes and an inflatable dome with a three-dimensional tour of the universe were set up on the White House lawn as part of a star party for 150 middle-schoolers.
“I keep being amazed at how much attention he’s spending on science policy,” said science policy and journalism blogger Chris Mooney, author of the book “Unscientific America: How Scientific Illiteracy Threatens Our Future.”
“The nerds are happy,” Mooney said. “They like Spock.”
Obama, himself a big “Star Trek” fan, screened the movie at the White House during its opening weekend.
“We knew he was a Trekkie,” said Roberto Orci, the screenwriter and producer behind the latest “Star Trek” movie. He said he watches the White House regularly for insight on the Spock character.
“To have a case study like that on the news every night makes my job a lot easier,” he said.
