I would expect some nationalistic fervor that would help fund a space race would come from US conservatives.
But in the US the "conservative" side of politics seems more interested in short term tax cuts for corporations, dismantling government, and hating on immigrants, and other Americans...
Accepting your blatant mischaracterization of conservative US politics as true for a moment, I think given the choice between "othering" folks in the US or a country on the other side of the world that most people know nothing about, politicians of any stripe would prefer the latter.
"I think given the choice between "othering" folks in the US or a country on the other side of the world that most people know nothing about, politicians of any stripe would prefer the latter."
Show me reigning US conservatives who aren't espousing those ideals cited. Go on, I'll wait. Even the libertarian puritans like rand paul have fallen in line with the socially and economically regressive republican platform of today.
The only ones willing to stand up to the hypocrisy of Trump and actually represent conservatism have been sidelined consistently.
I would expect some nationalistic fervor that would help fund a space race would come from US conservatives.
But in the US the "conservative" side of politics seems more interested in short term tax cuts for corporations, dismantling government, and hating on immigrants, and other Americans...
I have my doubts the US would step up.