National Service Continues to be an Important Election Issue

Using the July 4th holiday as a pulpit, presumptive Democratic Nominee for President Barack Obama's July 2nd speech at CU-Colorado Springs has continued to consolidate and strengthen his argument for increased patriotic service by every American.



Obama backs the current bipartisan GI Bill introduced by Senator Jim Webb (D-VA) and called for an Educational Tax Credit to motivate increased civic engagement. Obama's vocal support of service legislation is coupled with public calls for a reorientation of American society--"We were ready to step into the strong current of history, and to answer a new call for our country. But the call never came. Instead of a call to service, we were asked to go shopping."

This is the most important and progressive part of Obama's National Service platform--for the first time in recent memory a high level American political leader has made a concise appeal to our patriotic instincts and coupled it with feasible legislation to motivate increased civic engagement. Support and acknowledgment of the power of youth civic engagement and service learning is the first step towards educating a generation of young men and women on the merits of positive and constructive patriotism.

Article Addressing McCain and National Service