designs: That's a great point, although I think that some of these politicians are just preening for their constituents. Like when Marco Rubio said in an interview:
" Whether the Earth was created in 7 days, or 7 actual eras, I’m not sure we’ll ever be able to answer that. It’s one of the great mysteries."
He was trying to be non-committal without antagonizing his base or appearing anti-science. The firestorm he got for it afterward showed that you really can't have it both ways. I serious doubted he is actually a young-earth creationist, which he clarified with a subsequent statement basically saying he believes the earth is 4 billion years old but that doesn't contradict creation.