obama and government "innovation"

Barack Obama seems to think that one can’t put a price tag on innovation, as Sen. McCain wants to do with his (admittedly economically questionable) $300m bounty on a new, more efficient car battery. Apparently he hasn’t heard of things like “the venture capital industry,” which essentially does exactly that. To say nothing of earlier cited examples like the X-Prize, or the $1m price for improving Netflix’s search algorithm.

Someone remind me again why geeks love this guy. Is it his inability to comprehend economics? (In the linked speech excerpt, he says we need government involvement to find affordable energy, and then commends European alternative energy efforts.) Or is it just that John McCain is old?

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