I'm not sure I understand your point.
I should have been more clear: do you believe that ceteris paribus a candidate who supports (more) space programs has an electoral advantage over one who does not?
The zero-sum game remark hints at the fact that "We should give a foozillion dollars to NASA" can be (and routinely is) countered by "No, we can use that foozillion dollars better by giving it to {somebody else}".
Thanks for clarifying. This paper present a fairly coherent view of the nuances behind that question, I think.
The answer to your question is not obvious, which is presumably at least part of the reason that NASA funding has languished so badly in recent decades. It has a broad base of support (~80%), but the general public has a surprisingly poor understanding of that agency's size and scope. People overestimate its share of funding to a huge degree (a nontrivial percentage think it takes up half of federal spending!), and consequently think we spend to...
"The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy is planning ahead — way ahead. The agency wants you to email ideas for how "the Administration, the private sector, philanthropists, the research community and storytellers" can develop "massless" space exploration and a robust civilization beyond Earth."
This is beautiful.
"We are running out of adventures [...] the mountains have all been climbed, the continents explored, and the romance of sailing away on a tall ship to undiscovered islands is no more. What will fire the imaginations of the next generation?"
http://io9.com/white-house-seeks-advice-on-bootstrapping-a-solar-syst-1647619795