McCain and national service

In his inaugural address, President John F. Kennedy called on Americans to serve.  Sadly, those words — “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country” — have become cliche today.  We hear them, but most of us drive right by that message of sacrifice without really pondering what it means.

Those words have faded from our collective conscience.  The presidency of George W. Bush has reduced “service” to fighting bravely in a war that should never have been fought in the first place.  Commentators and other bloggers have noted many a time that Americans were not asked to sacrifice once after the events of 9/11.  Immediately after the attacks on our country, the Bush administration focused on Iraq rather than observing and noticing the spirit of goodwill among American citizens as well as citizens of other nations.  After invading Iraq in 2003, the phrase “serving our country” was usually used with reference to joining the Armed Forces.

Even after the war had begun, the Bush administration’s policies and behavior indicated a philosophy antithetical to the Kennedy call for service.  With the nation mired in a mess in Iraq, President Bush never once veered from a policy of cutting taxes for the wealthiest Americans, forcing the burden on those Americans barely able to get their proverbial feet under them.  With the price of oil skyrocketing, President Bush chose to visit Saudi Arabia to request that oil prices be lowered rather than approach Americans and ask them to sacrifice for the American economy.  This is the same man, by the way, who declared that America was addicted to oil.  When a drug addict admits to an addiction and then begs his or her supplier for more, that’s not responsible sacrifice — in fact, it’s not sacrifice at all.

Now, in 2008, we have two choices:  a man who worked for low-income families on the south side of Chicago versus a man who honorably served the country in another war it should not have fought.  Senator Obama has released a detailed plan for national service.  Obama will reward college students who give 100 hours of service to their communities with a $4,000 annual tax credit for school.  Obama will add 65,000 members to the military.  He will also significantly expand AmeriCorps and the Peace Corps.

Turning to Senator McCain, we’re left with very little.

John McCain, who’s predicated his presidential run in no small part on his distinguished military record, frequently exhorts Americans — and especially young Americans — to serve their country. Despite that appeal, he has yet to offer any proposals to expand or transform national service outside of the military.

…

…The McCain campaign will not commit to releasing a plan for expanding service opportunities. A senior policy adviser said only that they are “studying options for national service.” When asked why he does not have a service proposal, Pounder would only say that McCain is proud of his past support for service programs and has exhorted audiences to serve in this campaign.

While refusing to ask for a comprehensive sacrifice of the American people is regrettable when keeping Kennedy’s call to service and sacrifice in mind, it’s also not smart politics.  The Millennial Generation will offer roughly 50 million voters in the 2008 election.  These Americans have volunteered at record rates over the past few years.  In fact, 60% of 15-25 year olds have volunteered or continued to volunteer on a regular basis (CIRCLE, via Future Majority).  This generation’s general mindset is to help, big.  It’s a generation of builders that are civic-minded and want to work together to build a better society, and thus far, community service has been this generation’s most productive method of doing so.  However, many political junkies have heard by now that Millennials are not only serving, but voting too.  In the last three elections, Americans aged 18-29 have increased their voting rate and are on the verge of becoming a powerful voice in the American political dialogue.  McCain may not have the internet in common with Millennials, but he’d be best-served politically to develop a civic service bond with Millennials.

The Millennial brand of service seems identical to Kennedy’s:  service and policy to build, with politics and elections to protect.  Kennedy not only called on Americans to sacrifice; he also asked citizens — national and global — to hold accountable those Americans in power.

Finally, whether you are citizens of America or citizens of the world, ask of us here the same high standards of strength and sacrifice which we ask of you. With a good conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth to lead the land we love…

Many Americans immediately link the “Ask not what your country can do” quotation with Kennedy; but they don’t realize that in the same speech he offered a compact of sorts.  If the American citizen will do all that he or she can do for his or her country, those of us in power will promise to maintain the same work ethic, the same ethical standards, and the same dedication to bettering the national community as the citizenry.  That promise, linked with Kennedy’s allusion toward sacrificing for the unknown (“a good conscience our only sure reward”) is not only the national service we need, but the closest thing to patriotism I can think of.

John Edwards’s statement early on in the primaries calling us to be “patriotic about something other than war” is relevant, but it’s only a start.  We need to build off that statement by working together in service to “the land we love.”  Many volumes have researched and described the connections between service and leadership; it’s a pretty natural linkage.  Any contender for the highest office in the United States should have a plan on restoring the patriotic duty of sacrifice and service — not just militarily, but all throughout our society.

UPDATE: Herbert Hoover, anyone?

McCain and the Internet

This should immediately disqualify him for the office of President of the United States:

Q: But do you go on line for yourself?

Mr. McCain: They go on for me. I am learning to get online myself, and I will have that down fairly soon, getting on myself. I don’t expect to be a great communicator, I don’t expect to set up my own blog, but I am becoming computer literate to the point where I can get the information that I need – including going to my daughter’s blog first, before anything else.

Q: Do you use a blackberry or email?

Mr. McCain: No

Out of South Florida: ‘Huge swing toward Democrats’

Even if Barack Obama has lost some momentum, this might make up for some of that.

An escalating number of voters registering as Democrats is providing evidence that the 2008 election could produce a wave of support for Barack Obama — and trigger a decades-long shift of party allegiance that could affect elections for a generation.

The numbers are ominous for Republicans: Through May, Democratic voter registration in Broward County was up 6.7 percent. Republican registrations grew just 3 percent while independents rose 2.8 percent.

Democrats have posted even greater gains statewide, up 106,508 voters from January through May, compared with 16,686 for the Republicans.

“It’s a huge swing,” says Marian Johnson, political director for the Florida Chamber of Commerce. “I looked at that and said, ‘Wow.’”

That first paragraph is quite a joy to read.

Polls

One of the more frustrating things about being an amateur political junkie — and most bloggers understand this — is sitting back and watching those charged with the duty of disseminating information to the electorate botch it.  And I’ve found in my time of being a political junkie that more times than not this misrepresentation of information has something to do with polling.

Why is Craig writing about this, you ask?  A month or so ago, Newsweek put forth poll results that were quite shocking; they possibly even reached outlier status.  Obama was ahead of McCain 51-36.  Now I did blog about that big lead, cautiously labeling it a possible indicator of a landslide.  But many other polls, including the Gallup tracking poll, have shown this to be a much tighter race than what Newsweek had measured.

So, surprise, surpise — Newsweek has released their July poll, showing a much tighter race, with Obama up on McCain by three points, 44-41.  What could have happened?

Well, we can go with the conventional wisdom (which, lately, is never a safe bet).  Much of the media is wringing their hands, postulating that Obama’s support has completely collapsed.  Traditional media and even Political Wire — which disappoints me — is completely ignoring the rather outlandish June poll results when they start sounding alarms about the latest Newsweek poll.  They automatically go right to FISA and claim that Obama’s capitulation (as well as his “new” stance on the war) is the reason for the change in numbers.

Why is there no acknowledgement that the June poll could have been a bit off, leading to a more realistic result and a closer race?

Obama fights back against Gramm, McCain

At today’s town hall meeting on women’s economic insecurity in Fairfax, Virginia, Obama will respond to the comments of McCain economic advisor Phil Gramm.

From Political Punch:

McCain, Obama will tell the crowd, “won’t bring the change we need – while I will. That starts with acknowledging the economic difficulties so many women are facing right now. Senator McCain, however, has said that we’ve made ‘great progress’ on the economy. And Senator Phil Gramm, a top economic advisor to Senator McCain, just recently said that this is merely ‘a mental recession.’ Senator Gramm then deemed the United States – and I quote – ‘a nation of whiners.’”

Obama will continue: “This comes after Senator McCain recently admitted that his energy proposals will have mainly ‘psychological’ benefits. Well, you know, America already has one Dr. Phil. When it comes to the economy, we don’t need another. Let’s be clear, when people are struggling with the rising costs of everything from gas to groceries, when we’ve lost 438,000 jobs over the past six months, when typical families have seen their incomes fall nearly $1,000 since 2000, this economic downturn isn’t in our heads. It isn’t whining to ask for more than just psychological relief.”

UPDATE:

Ouch.

Good point: ‘Clinging v. Whining’

Yesterday John McCain’s economic advisor, Phil Gramm, explained that our economic problems are figments of our imagination in an interview with the Washington Times.

“You’ve heard of mental depression; this is a mental recession,” he said, noting that growth has held up at about 1 percent despite all the publicity over losing jobs to India, China, illegal immigration, housing and credit problems and record oil prices. “We may have a recession; we haven’t had one yet.”

Gramm went on to address the reporting of these economic problems.

“We have sort of become a nation of whiners,” he said. “You just hear this constant whining, complaining about a loss of competitiveness, America in decline” despite a major export boom that is the primary reason that growth continues in the economy, he said.

Emphasis added.

I had been reading about this remark on several blogs throughout the whole morning, and then I read something that clicked with me.  Talking Points Memo posted a comment it received from a reader.  Kudos to the reader for pointing out yet another example of the media’s double standard when it comes to the McCain campaign.

Hmmm, so, will we see/hear weeks and weeks of prattling, analyzing, psychobabble, etc. about how badly Gramm/McCain do not understand the good people of this country? How intemperate, unwise, badly stated those remarks about good, honest, hardworking Americans were? Heck, he even implied that we’re delusional about the recession.

What MG, the reader at TPM, is referring to is the wringing of the hands exercise the media led for a few months over Obama’s “bitter” comments.  Why shouldn’t the media examine these remarks just as closely?  They should ponder them, speculate at length about the McCain campaign’s ability to be in touch with those hard-working and hard-luck Americans who are being squeezed by our bad economy — yes, bad.

UPDATE: Dr. Phil II stands by his statement.

Pets and Politics

It’s probably not a good thing when a news organization that calls itself “the essential global news network” publishes a story that reads like a piece from The Onion.  From the AP, via Talking Points Memo.

From George Washington’s foxhound “Drunkard” to George W. Bush’s terriers “Barney” and “Miss Beazley,” pets are a longtime presidential tradition for which the presumed Republican nominee seems well prepared, with more than a dozen.

The apparent Democratic nominee Barack Obama, on the other hand, doesn’t have a pet at home.

The pet-owning public seems to have noticed the difference.

An AP-Yahoo! News poll found that pet owners favor McCain over Obama 42 percent to 37 percent, with dog owners particularly in McCain’s corner.

“I think a person who owns a pet is a more compassionate person — caring, giving, trustworthy. I like pet owners,” said Janet Taylor of Plymouth, Mass.

This is the kind of journalism that gets on my nerves.

We have soldiers fighting in Iraq, the economy is falling apart, and the Associated Press thinks that publishing a story examining the connection between animals being domesticated and the presidential election is something worth reading.

This is from the Associated Press’s Statement of News Values and Principles:

For more than a century and a half, men and women of The Associated Press have had the privilege of bringing truth to the world. They have gone to great lengths, overcome great obstacles – and, too often, made great and horrific sacrifices – to ensure that the news was reported quickly, accurately and honestly.

I don’t think I need to point out how absurd this story sounds after reading that.  AP — step it up.

Obama accepting nomination at Invesco Field?

DemConWatch hypothesizes.

Other than the obvious large security and logistic concerns, this could be a huge, bold move.  Invesco Field holds 75,000 (and probably more if people game the system as Markos alludes to).

Keep an eye on it.  Many denials have been made so far, but there have been many hints by the DNC and the Obama campaign regarding a large event to close out the convention.

Obama leads by a lot and he acts like it

Last week Newsweek came out with a poll showing Obama up on McCain by a 51-36 percent margin.  Today’s LA Times poll reflected a similar fifteen point margin when including Ralph Nader and Bob Barr in the field (48-33).  This, more and more, is looking like a potential landslide.  While we’ve seen similar Democratic leads this early squandered by November in the past, there’s a difference.

As Chris Bowers reflects at Open Left today, Obama is acting like he’s going to be the winner (even if it did mean using this ugly seal) and he keeps doing it no matter what the polls show.  He acts like a man in control, and after eight years of you know what, how could the voters not want that?

One more interesting (and awesome) piece to the first Newsweek poll:  66 percent of voters aged 18-39 are choosing Obama.  Only 27 percent are choosing McCain.  The 40-59 and 60+ age groups are even.  Young voters are indeed making a difference.

Veepstakes Update

Remember the SurveyUSA chart I posted a few weeks ago?  They conducted another poll of possible presidential/vice presidential tickets in four states:  Iowa, California, Minnesota, and Wisconsin.  Open Left has compiled both rounds for a few states to compare/contrast.  Here are the results:

As you can see, in all four of these “test” states Edwards is the only candidate that sustains and improves Obama’s campaign.  I agree with Paul Rosenberg from Open Left:  Of course name recognition (and lack thereof) limits the accuracy of these polls, they still mean something.  People are comfortable with what Edwards has to offer Obama and the country.  In a campaign that is apparently going to be focusing on the economy, Edwards is a great candidate to add, especially for Obama to continue to make some headway in the Appalachian demographic.

Let me know what you think.