Ilya Somin points to a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed by Shikha Dalmia about McCain’s and Obama’s service proposals. The main differences appear to be their scope and the mandatory nature of some of Obama’s.
I should note that the tone of Barack Obama’s recent comments on service at the NYC Service Nation forum couldn’t have been more different from his December and July major addresses on the subject. There are several indications in his remarks that Obama (or his staffers) had read my criticisms. And Obama sought to present his views in the least offensive terms possible (eg, two mentions of service for high school, but not a word about middle school; no promises to require all middle and high schools to adopt service programs by denying schools federal funding if they refuse).
One question that has arisen in discussions is the extent to which his “Universal Voluntary Service Plan” is nonetheless mandatory.
Because Obama calls his plan voluntary, it