Service Nation Presidential Forum

Thursday night the presidential candidates talked about their views on service.

Obama: "America is the greatest country on earth, but it didn't just happen on its own. It is not a gift only.... it is a responsibility."

This has been a key component of the Obama campaign from the very beginning. If you remember his acceptance speech during the Democratic Convention his line "We are the ones we've been waiting for" is key in his belief that Americans can solve the difficult challenges we face with millions of hands working together.

"The choices we provide young people are too constrained. " Obama went on to say "The fact is that we have to have government. When a hurricane strikes, as it did with Katrina, we have to have a FEMA that works, which by the way, means that we should be encouraging young people, the best and the brightest, to get involved as civil servants, to pursue careers of public service so we've got people who are trained in federal emergency management who are able to take on the job. Now, that does not crowd out the Red Cross. That doesn't crowd out the thousands of church groups that went down there. What it means is that each area has a role to play"

Sen. Obama goes on to say that the 3 years he spent as a community organizer working with churches and setting up after school programs for youth were the greatest years of education he ever had because it enabled him to see the ways in which people were empowered when they were given a chance to take charge of their own lives.

"Ordinary people can do extraordinary things when they come together. That is what I want to inspire people to do."

When it was Sen. McCain's turn he used similar opportunities to talk about the importance of service but failed to talk about young people being encouraged by increases in federal or presidential enthusiasm. Instead he used the forum as an opportunity to talk about our impending war against Russia

"They understand the challenges that we have in this world. They see the Russian invasion of the little country called Georgia. They see the problems in Afghanistan growing larger. They see a whole lot of things happening in the world that's going to require us to serve, and that opportunity has to be provided to them."

McCain instead said that the government should limit its involvement in service encouragement.

"I'd be glad to reward [volunteers] them as much as possible. But you want to be careful that the reason is not the reward of financial or other reasons, but the reward is the satisfaction of serving a cause greater than yourself. ... Finding new ways to serve. That's what this next few years should be all about."

This is a stark contrast to Obama's plan to encourage people who can't always afford to serve after graduating from college $20,000 in debt. Obama said his education plan outlines a $4,000 credit to students each year that is dependent on the dedication of those same students giving back to their communities.

The highlight of the forum was the question about previous statements by Gov. Sarah Palin that she made accepting the VP nomination last week where she said:

"I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a ‘community organizer,’ except that you have actual responsibilities,"

McCain's response to the question

"Look, Gov. Palin was responding to the criticism of her inexperience and her job as a mayor in a small town. That's what she was responding to. Of course I respect community organizers. Of course I respect people who serve their community. And Sen. Obama's record there is outstanding."

The spin on CNN afterward had a commentator who feared he would use naughty words in response to that statement saying that it was a boldface lie and that the McCain campaign knew exactly what it was doing when attacking Obama's work as a community organizer. The same commentator then said that Obama's response was weak and he was probably more angry about the comment by Palin.

When asked about McCain's comment, Gov. Sarah Palin said that it was sexist. (kidding)

One thing left out of the forum was the important statistic that your nation's youth are some of the most active community organizers and service volunteers in the country.