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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Obama said he thought it was wrong for Columbia -- his alma mater -- and other colleges to turn away the Reserve Officers' Training Corps because of differences some students have on military policy.

"I think we've made a mistake on that," he said. "We should have an honest debate while still having opportunities to serve."

Last month, Jay Winuk, a co-founder of MyGoodDeed.org and the brother of a Sept. 11 victim, wrote to both campaigns, asking them to set aside campaigning to participate in the event.

Winuk's younger brother Glenn was a partner at the law firm Holland and Knight and a volunteer firefighter in Jericho, Long Island, who died after rushing into the World Trade Center to provide assistance on 9/11.

Earlier in the day, the presidential rivals made a joint appearance at Ground Zero to honor the victims of the terrorist attacks. They chatted as they walked side by side down a long ramp to the site, where they talked with family members of 9/11 victims as well as first responders before laying roses in the reflecting pool commemorating the attacks.

Both men had promised to take a break from politics for a day, suspending all television commercials and other campaign activities. A day after a barrage of attack e-mails from both sides poured into reporters' inboxes, there were none from McCain, Obama or their respective political parties.

"Today, we honor the memory of the lives that were lost on September 11, 2001, and grieve with the families and friends who lost someone they loved in New York City, at the Pentagon, and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. We will never forget those who died," a statement from Obama read.

In the morning, McCain paid a somber visit to the field where United Flight 93 crashed, marking the moment that passengers overwhelmed terrorists onboard the ill-fated airliner.

The evening forum, in which both men took questions for roughly an hour from Time magazine's managing editor, Richard Stengel, and PBS "NewsHour" senior correspondent and political editor Judy Woodruff, was organized by ServiceNation, a group dedicated to increasing service by Americans, and hosted by Time and CNN. McCain went first, and Obama was allowed to listen, organizers said, because they would not be asked identical questions.

While Obama and McCain put aside their attacks, the Illinois Democrat continued his rapprochement with former president Bill Clinton with a long, private get-together in Harlem. Over sandwiches and pizza, the two chitchatted about Clinton's commute from suburban Chappaqua, the work of the former president's international charitable organization and the presidential campaign.

"I've agreed to do a substantial number of things" for Obama, Clinton told a small pool of reporters. "Whatever I'm asked to do."

"We're putting him to work," Obama chimed in.