ServiceNation Forum: The Candidates Speak About Service

As I was on the A train heading up to Harlem for the ServiceNation Summit at Columbia University, two things came to mind.  For a second, Duke Ellington's "Take the A Train" ran through my head.  But then, as I was about to see what's likely to be the biggest call to community action in a generation, I found myself hoping Sarah Palin would not be there.  With both her running mate and his opponent about to stress the need for community service and community organizers, it would have been ironic and disturbing, since only a week ago as most of us were seeing her for the first time, she belittled community organizers. 

Community organizers, who have helped feed and shelter the homeless, help people with the ravages of drugs, alcohol and depression, organize sports, cultural and educational activities for our kids, and so much more.  Thank goodness for community organizers, who spur others to do service, often with little or no resources.  In the press room, I chatted briefly with Guardian Angels organizer Curtis Sliwa, who was sitting behind me, and he too didn't appreciate Gov. Palin's remarks.

Once the program began, both candidates were asked about those remarks and both responded politely, but sounding like politicians -- non-answers.

I'm not going to write here about what Senators Obama and McCain said last night; it's reported in the papers and you can probably catch the forum again on C-SPAN.  Or you can look through a transcript of the session, at the end of this post.

Both men spoke eloquently about their vision of service.  McCain seemed to picking from his stump speech, but he came off well.  Obama's content was good, but many in the press room were frustrated by some long-winded answers that seemed to ramble.  He got better as the session went on.  (Memo to BO's handlers:  Get him to give shorter responses.  TV viewers don't have patience for more than a sound bite.)

At Coiumbia University, the plaza, filled by
anti-war protestors 40 years ago, was flooded
by young people who came to hear McCain
and Obama speak about service to others.

 

To me, the most notable thing is that "service" is now on America's radar.  What's amazing is that the organizer of ServiceNation, Be the Change, didn't even exist a year ago.   Inspired by a Time Magazine cover story on service, Alan Khazei decided to do something to encourage service.  He found some well-connected and high-profile people to join him, like Caroline Kennedy, the singer Usher and many others.  He also found some deep pockets at Target, AARP, Time Inc. and various foundations.  And he and this fledgling group pulled off the major coup of getting both presidential candidates to appear together for the first time since the conventions, garnering major media attention and prestige.   It's been a masterful job of organizing and marketing.  

Hopefully, it will end up being more than just talk.

For me the best lines of the evening were --

Sen. Obama:  "Part of my job (as President) is to make government cool again."

Sen. McCain: Talking about seniors having the time and energy to get involved in service, he stopped mid-sentence and feigned falling asleep.  It brought a giant laugh.

...

Note:  I tried to post the transcript here, which was provided within 45 minutes by the on-the-ball media relations people for ServiceNation.  I had some problems loading it, though.  I'm happy to email it to anyone who asks.  I'm at david@reichcommunications.com

       

Comments

[jb]

David, like you, I am so glad Sarah Palin wasn’t there last night.

Community service is far too important for clever PR ploys.

When and where she’s involved, so are smoke and mirrors. People are sidetracked into discussions of intentions behind lipstick comments, Gibson being a mean interviewer, why she’s not invited on Oprah. Critical issues are brilliantly sidetracked—her blatant overstatements about her success implementing the Alaskan pipeline that’s a good 10 years off [yesterday’s New York Times front page story], brushing off her cheating on per diems [that would get someone fired if they worked for me], and her low opinion of community service.

I applaud the kind of visionary thinking and implementation that generated endorsements by both contenders for President of the United States, the focus of the national media and the generosity of supporters to honor, commend, recommend and spotlight community service. I wish these people were running the national campaigns--if not running for office themselves. They have their priorities perfectly in place.

[David Reich]

Thanks for your comment, Jeanne.

The whole issue of attacking the media for being unfair to either candidate is the subject for a future post. I was discussing this the other evening with a mixed (Republicans and Democrats) group who feel the press is just doing its job, which is to probe and ask tough questions to try to get at the truth for us.

More on that here in a few days.

[Jen]

I watched the whole thing and although a die-hard Obama supporter, I had to agree with what both candidates were saying about Americans needing to step up a bit in terms of non- military service. As a member of the gen X era, I think a lot of people my age got disillusioned with government after the 2000 election. And have taken a very laid back, non involved, woe is me stance when things go so poorly. Hopefully, all the sparks that are flying over this election can cause people to get involved in their government and country again. After all, service in a soup kitchen or building houses for Habitat Humanity- those acts are humanitarian acts, not political- and any member of either party can feel good about that.

[David Reich]

Well stated, Jen. Service should not be about politics. And it's a shame that many Gen Xers have given up on government. Obama said, at the summit, that he hopes to change that by "making government cool again."