Obama stresses need for national service

On Day 3 of a campaign swing that showcases his values, Sen. Barack Obama spoke about the importance of national service, telling an audience here that his work as a young community organizer gave him needed direction at a time when he was “adrift.”

Little in the policies Obama laid out was new; he has already released a $3.5-billion-a-year plan for promoting national service. As much as anything, his visit to this battleground state was to show that his values are largely mainstream – a message he hopes will sink with any voters who see him as an unfamiliar figure out of touch with everyday concerns.

In a trip to Missouri on Monday, he spoke about patriotism against a backdrop of four American flags. Then in a poor region of Ohio the following day, he talked about how his “personal commitment to Christ” led him to pursue a career in community service.

Speaking here this morning, Obama said: “Growing up, I wasn’t always sure who I was, or where I was going. That’s what happens sometimes when you don’t have a father in the home. But during my first two years of college, perhaps because the values my mother had taught me – values of hard work, honesty and empathy – perhaps because they had resurfaced after a long hibernation; or perhaps because of the example of wonderful teachers and lasting friends, I began to notice a world beyond myself. And by the time I graduated from college, I was possessed with a crazy idea – that I would work at the grass-roots level to bring about change.”

A new component of Obama’s national service plan is dubbed his “Green Vet” initiative. He would set up a program to give veterans counseling and job placement assistance so they can find work in the renewable energy field. Obama aides said they could not yet estimate the program’s cost.

“To marshal their talents in building a new energy economy, I want to launch an initiative to give our veterans the training they need to succeed in the green jobs of the future,” Obama said. “It’s time to end our energy dependence at home so our national security isn’t held hostage to oil and gas from abroad.”

Other pieces of Obama’s national service plan include:

* Doubling the size of the Peace Corps;

* Recruiting retired engineers and scientists to tutor students and assist math and science teachers;

* Giving college students tuition assistance in exchange for 100 hours per year of public service;

* Training Americans who are fluent in Arabic and other foreign languages to go overseas and help with “public diplomacy.”

Obama would pay for such programs by closing corporate loopholes and ending the Iraq War, among other measures.

“I know what the cynics will say,” he said. “I’ve heard from them all my life. These are the voices that will tell you – not just what you can’t do – but what you won’t do. Americans won’t come together – our allegiance doesn’t go beyond our political party, or our race, or our region, or our religion, our congregations. Young Americans won’t serve their country – they’re too selfish, they’re too apathetic, they’re too lazy. This is the soft sell of the status quo, the voice that tells you to settle because settling isn’t that bad.

“That’s not the America that I’ve seen throughout this campaign. I’ve seen young people work, and volunteer, and turn out in record numbers.”

The audience applauded.

After delivering his speech, Obama was to visit the North American Aerospace Defense Command, the U.S. Northern Command and the Air Force Academy.

He was also scheduled to attend a fundraising event today.

 peter.nicholas@latimes.com