Candidates Promise National-Service Initiatives

Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama, who have fought particularly fiercely in the presidential campaign of late, looked more like allies at the ServiceNation forum. (By Melina Mara -- The Washington Post)
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McCain chuckled and said yes before adding that he believes there are too many Cabinet secretaries already.

Obama laughed and said, "If this is the deal he wants to make right now, I'm committed to appointing him." Asked whether he would serve in McCain's Cabinet, Obama said, "We've got a little work to do before we get to that."

McCain also drew laughter when he was asked about encouraging older Americans to participate in public service. They are "living longer and they're more vigorous," he said. "I'm here to tell you that's a fact."

The 72-year-old candidate then cocked his head and pretended to fall asleep for a moment, letting out a "Zzz."

While the tone of the event was civil, McCain and Obama did outline differing roles for the federal government in fostering volunteerism.

McCain stressed that the government should not compel service, argued the private sector should take a larger role in disaster relief and said he hoped private companies would allow their employees to volunteer in the community. He declined to put a price tag on his service initiative.

"When you compel someone to do something, you basically are in contradiction to the basic principle of people wanting to serve," he said, adding later that he would sign a bipartisan Senate bill that would expand government support of service programs.

Obama, who has proposed a $3.5 billion service program, emphasized his belief that government and the private sector could work together to augment each other's efforts.

The solution, he said, is to offer people more ways to volunteer, and he said the government needs to do more to encourage that. "The government is going to have a role," he said.

"My sense is the country yearns for that," Obama said. "It's hungry for it. What has been missing is a president in the White House that taps into that yearning in a serious way. . . . The choices we offer young people today are too constraining."

Each made a bit of news in the forums.

McCain pledged to sign a bipartisan bill on national service that is being introduced Friday, prompting applause from the audience in Columbia University's Roone Arledge Auditorium at Lerner Hall.