Patriotism according to our presidential candidates

In Sunday’s Parade magazine Senators Obama and McCain wrote what patriotism means to them. For Obama, patriotism means in America, anything is possible. It also means a “willingness to sacrifice for our common good”. His article was about the pursuit of the American dream and protecting the ideals that go along with this dream. So for him patriotism was more personal Senator McCain placed patriotism in a more historical context. He talked about John Adams and Thomas Jefferson and the fact that they both died on July 4, 1826. For McCain “to love one’s country is to love one’s countrymen”.

Both articles were well written and sincere. My take away from both articles is that there is a freedom that we as Americans have that is not seen in many parts of the world and we need to do our part in honoring that privilege.