Barack Obama on Wednesday announced a sweeping public service agenda that includes a plan to increase the military by more than 90,000 volunteers, in stark contrast to just six weeks ago, when he called students to service, but not the military kind.
In his May address to the Wesleyan University class of 2008, Obama implored the graduates to consider public service, but left out any reference to the military as an appropriate avenue for young people to serve.
Obama was quickly skewered by the right for ignoring the sacrifices of the military, adding to the candidate’s struggle to show voters he is ready to be commander in chief.
“Patriotism,” one blogger asserted after the speech, “is his Achilles’ heel.”
Obama did not make the same mistake Wednesday. Before he breathed a word about doubling the size of the Peace Corps or expanding AmeriCorps by 175,000 volunteers, Obama announced his intention to “call on a new generation of Americans to join our military, and complete the effort to increase our ground forces by 65,000 soldiers and 27,000 Marines.”
In remarks delivered at the University of Colorado in Colorado Springs, Obama first praised the military for its service but said more soldiers are needed to “ease the burden on our troops, while meeting the challenges of the 21st century.”
But he promised a kinder, gentler military for those who sign up.
Obama said those who joined would be assured that they would be sent into war “only when we absolutely must” and would be given the proper equipment to do their jobs and adequate support after they leave the service.
“They must see that we’ll care for our military families while they’re deployed, and that we’re providing our veterans with the support, benefits and opportunity that they have earned when they return home,” he said. “That’s what I’ll promise as commander in chief.”
Obama has been working hard to attract voters who have trouble envisioning him as the nation’s top military leader after he ran for months as a staunch anti-war candidate.
Earlier this week, Obama delivered a speech on patriotism and announced he would visit Iraq and Afghanistan in the near future. After delivering his national service speech Wednesday, he visited the North American Aerospace Defense Command.
“He won the primary with the anti-war folks, and now he is trying desperately to move as close to the center as he can, where the mainstream is,” said Michigan Republican Party Chairman Saul Anuzis. “He has to be careful; if he looks hypocritical or like he is flip-flopping for political expediency, it could hurt him.”
Former John McCain strategist Dan Schnur said he believed Obama would not shed his base by moving more toward the center on national security. “The Democratic base wants to win so badly they are willing to forfeit any shift to the right at this point,” he said.
