I’m not one of those people that were ever enthralled with Kennedy’s Camelot. I’m too young. My introduction to the Kennedys was the Teddy version, circa his petulant primary challenge to Jimmy Carter. I have the utmost respect for Edward Kennedy, but he doesn’t have the magic of his two more famous brothers. Nevertheless, when I was growing up I couldn’t help but identify the Kennedys with patriotism. It seemed like everyone that was doing public service claimed to have taken their inspiration from John F. Kennedy’s campaign and inaugural speech.
I sense something similar in Barack Obama. It’s especially clear in the way young voters are flocking to his campaign, and it is reflected in his Plan for Universal Voluntary Public Service.
“Your own story and the American story are not separate — they are shared. And they will both be enriched if we stand up together, and answer a new call to service to meet the challenges of our new century … I won’t just ask for your vote as a candidate; I will ask for your service and your active citizenship when I am president of the United States. This will not be a call issued in one speech or program; this will be a cause of my presidency.” — Barack Obama, Speech in Mt. Vernon, Iowa, December 5, 2007
You can see the acorn of a new cadre of patriots in his Obama Organizing Fellows program.
This summer we are looking for people who want to be a part of a new generation of leadership that believes, like Senator Obama, that real change comes from the ground up.
Fellows will be trained on the basics of organizing & campaign fundamentals and then placed in a community to carry out grassroots activities. Fellows will be asked to commit to a minimum of 30 hours per week and will:
* participate in training on field organizing, messaging, and other activities
* organize in a community, working in conjunction with grassroots leaders and campaign staff
* continue to build the movement
I think it’s important to talk about this kind of patriotism because the Republicans intend to make Obama’s love of country a major issue in the general election. Perhaps anticipating this, Joe Klein has started a flamewar with Pete Wehner over the question of whether liberals or conservatives are more patriotic. In most ways I think it is an idiotic argument. But then we see Bill Kristol warn us:
Last week, over drinks, one Republican strategist not affiliated with the McCain campaign mused about how an independent advertising effort against Obama might work. “Barack Obama: He’s not who you think he is” would be the theme. The supporting evidence would come from his left-wing voting record in Illinois and Washington, spiced up with fun video clips of Reverend Wright.
Even some Democrats’ battered-wife syndrome shows through.
And an experienced Democratic operative e-mailed: “Finally, I think [McCain’s] going to win. Obama isn’t growing in stature. Once I thought he could be Jimmy Carter, but now he reminds me more of Michael Dukakis with the flag lapel thing and defending Wright. Plus he doesn’t have a clue how to talk to the middle class. He’s in the Stevenson reform mold out of Illinois, with a dash of Harvard disease thrown in.”
We are going to get really tired of talking about flag lapels and whether you should put your hand on your heart during the national anthem and Rev. Wright. All of these things will be used to suggest that Obama isn’t patriotic enough. But, to my mind, his ability to inspire a generation of men and women to dedicate themselves to public service is about as patriotic as it gets.
You don’t make a career of civil service pay unless you love and care about your country. That’s the message we need to get out.