Tonight in New York City, a new tone of civility was struck as Columbia University hosted John McCain and Barack Obama in the Nation of Service forum. Each candidate had a little less than an hour of questioning by a joint panel consisting of PBS’s Judy Woodriff and Time’s Richard Stengel. The forum was the culmination of the two-day Service Nation Summit 2008, focusing on encouraging community service throughout the country and world. As noted by host Stengel, civic participation is at or near an all-time high in America and the prominence of tonight’s forum in the general election period underlies that strength. The takeaway from the forum overall is not so much any advantage gained by either candidate but instead a turning down of the volume of the campaign and demonstration of the likability of each candidate.
The campaign has turned more heated in the days since the conventions, and tonight was a demonstration of the positive qualities of each candidate. McCain was direct and forceful; Obama was professorial and eloquent. Collectively, Obama and McCain entered tonight’s forum as unusually well liked, in historical standards, with both candidates drawing between 55-60 percent favorability ratings from the public. The George W. Bush elections, with Al Gore and John Kerry, featured more polarizing candidates with little appeal beyond a bare majority of Americans.
Both candidates were complimentary to each other on this anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, with McCain jokingly offering Obama as position in his cabinet as “Service Czar” and Obama later essentially returning the favor. Obama specifically concurred with McCain’s position several times, most clearly with their joint critique of claim that the Bush Administration did not stir up service but instead put forward the “go shopping” message in the aftermath of 9/11.
As for substance, both candidates readily agreed to support bipartisan legislation soon to make its way through the Senate, the Hatch/Kennedy Bill, which substantially enlarges several government service groups like AmeriCorps. Obama was careful to stress military service, perhaps remembering his gaffe by omitting the mention of military service when giving the commencement address at Wesleyan University and listing ways for the new graduates to serve their country. McCain was questioned about Palin’s rough treatment of Obama’s community organizer days and seized the opportunity to praise community organizers and community service while defending his running mate’s right to defend herself from criticism of her small town mayor roots.
An interesting divergence in questioning occurred regarding the issue of “American Exceptionalism”. Briefly, American Exceptionalism is the concept that America is a unique country that organizes itself aroung certain values, like democracy, the rule of law, liberty, the common good, volunteerism, that are uncommon in other countries hence making America exceptional. Woodruff pushed McCain hard on whether he thought his belief in American Exceptionalism meant that the U.S. is “better” than other countries – McCain adroitly continued to rely on the “unique” nature of America. Obama was let off somewhat easier, just affirmatively responding to whether be believed in American Exceptionalism. The interviewers may have let an opportunity slip here as Obama’s positions laid out in his Berlin Speech are in some respects philosophically at odds with the concept of American Exceptionalism, yet no followup questions ensued.
The kids at Columbia interviewed after the forum appeared pretty fired up about service, talking at length about signing up for foreign service and even supporting the return of ROTC to Columbia University’s campus. ROTC was banned from Columbia University in 1969 and has historically been a polarizing issue. Tonight, McCain and Obama both agreed that the university should accept ROTC back onto campus, underscoring a night filled with agreement on policy and pledges of bipartisan cooperation to augment service in America.
As for missteps, McCain made a mistake when explaining his respect for mayors. “It’s easy for me to go to Washington and frankly, be somewhat divorced from the day-to-day challenges people have,” he said. Surely Obama will arrange an ad around those words. For Obama, a strong support of increasing the size of the military slipped out in the questioning, which is quite at odds with his stated positions regarding reducing specific weapons systems like missile defense and claims to be able to fund his domestic programs with the use of funds freed up by reduced military spending on Iraq. Obama may face questions in the coming days on this inconsistency. Another strange moment occurred after Stengel stated that that civic involvment was at an all time high in America and Obama went into a stump response about the need to restore American service to what it once was.
An interesting point of divergence emerged during the dueling set of similiar questions asked of each candidate. When questioned on the scope of the government’s role in spurring additional service, McCain highlighted his philosophical reluctance to be overly reliant on the government, reserving national disasters and national defense as the only sectors in which the government should be the primary actor. McCain stated several times that an over-involved government would risk taking the space of private volunteer efforts and possibly reduce volunteerism overall. Obama, on the other hand, clearly stated his preference for a primary government role in all service efforts and defended that role as critical to spurring additional national service.
In summarizing his support for a central government role in volunteerism and service, Obama stated that he “wanted to make government cool again”. For this observer, Obama’s statement was the highlight of the night and drew stark contrast to the very man that Obama had lunch with today – Bill Clinton. Indeed, it was Bill Clinton, in the 1996 State of the Union address, that stated ‘[t]he era of big government is over’. Obama has made clear previously that he supports an expansion of the size and scope of the federal government, but tonight underlied his passionate belief in the ability of the government to solve the most pressing issues of the day, including the spurring of additional volunteerism in America.
Each of the candidates performed well and neither appeared to gain an advantage politically from the evening. The next few days will determine if the level of civility shown tonight will reduce the acrimony between the campaigns over the ongoing Palin attacks and counterattacks and the testy environment which accompanies a deadlocked race for the Presidency.
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