A number of impromptu meetings have already occurred during the 2008 campaign:

• McCain: During an impromptu meeting earlier this year with John McCain, Chris Carberry asked the Senator if he still supported returning to the Moon and then going on to Mars. He said that he did. This encounter was followed up by a meeting with McCains policy people a few months later.
• Giuliani: When Chris Carberry asked Mayor Guiliani if he supported NASA's plans and if he would be willing to speed up that plan, he said that he didn't know much about it, but he would be happy to look into it. This encounter was followed up by a policy meeting a month later.
• Senator Barack Obama: When Chris Carberry asked Senator Obama the same question, he said that he couldn't give a firm answer yet. Although the concept of a mission to mars inspired him, he would have to look into the fiscal issues related to it. The Mars Society has scheduled a policy meeting with the candidate's staff.
• Governor Mitt Romney: When Chris Carberry asked overnor Romney, he said that he didn't know much about it, but he would certainly be happy to look read anything that we could provide on the program. This encounter was followed up with a meeting with Romney's policy people a couple of months later. This meeting also include members of other space advocacy groups.
• Armin Ellis has a writeup of responses he got asking Democratic candidates about space after the debate at Dartmouth University.