Afew weeks ago I gave a speech to a chapter of one of those service organizations that have long salved America's soul. (You know the groups: Ruritan, Lions, Rotary, and Knights of Columbus, to name a few.) The subject of the talk was the presidential election -- which was especially hot at the time because the Dem ocratic nomination contest between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton was still boiling. I thought my mission was to give the audience a little insight into the election and how newspaper editorial boards work -- but in the end the attendees wound up teaching me something.

The room was full of those salt-of-the-Earth, communitarian types who make a region run by serving not only in local government, but also on charitable boards, as volunteers at bake sales, and leading Boy Scout troops. They were not wide-eyed liberals or movement conservatives. The people who showed up that day were Middle America -- the folks who make or break presidential candidacies.

After my talk and the meeting gaveled to a close, quite a few people came to share their thoughts about the election. To my surprise, they were either (1) excited about Barack Obama or (2) very, very receptive to his message. Not his platform, mind you, but his "post-partisan" message. I asked about Obama's almost down-the-line liberal policy positions. (Dear reader, please pardon the imprecise paraphrases that follow, but they capture the conversation's general sentiment.) They weren't concerned -- "The presidency has a way of moderating those who hold it." His lack of experience in federal politics? They really didn't care. His sometimes na?ve foreign policy positions, and lack of international relations experience in a dangerous time? "He can learn. Look at Ronald Reagan."

And here's the lesson: Those folks are done with the hyper-partisan Bill Clinton-Tom DeLay-Karl Rove-MoveOn.org era of politics. This group likes Obama because he promises to end the time when rhetoric became more important than policy. Ours are days when outmaneuvering someone with another partisan label is paramount to making sure the machinery of government will continue to work when handed over to the next generation.

The members of this service organization want to wrestle government from the so-called conservatives who reject Ronald Reagan, as Ed Meese described him in an obituary for National Review: "[President Reagan] also had a unique feel for when to accept half a loaf from Congress, rather than, as he said, 'ride off the cliff with full flags flying.' He never forgot his objectives, and he mastered the art of achieving them in stages." They want to throw into the ash heap of history liberals who have rejected John Kennedy's call for Americans to serve America -- in Middle America's eyes today's "progressives" espouse a philosophy that insists government should meet all the needs and desires any given person may have.

The bottom-line message sent by members of that service organization: They want to elect people who commit themselves to the business of governing -- not just embarrassing members of the other party and/or rigidly toeing a partisan line to no effective end. They are ready to replace the immature children they have sent to run the government since January 1993.

If that is the goal, this is the right election with the right candidates. Both parties have nominated candidates who want to turn the page on the Clinton-Rove era. Judging by the attraction, Obama successfully has built his campaign on this theme of post-partisan government. But -- and this point did not escape several members of this service organization -- John McCain has built a career on this very notion. McCain doesn't just talk about working across the aisle, he's done it. His campaign finance "reform" is a legislative monstrosity, but one does have to give McCain credit for placing himself in the arena. On the other hand, McCain's participation in the bipartisan Gang of 14 proved integral to the confirmation of quite a few judges -- almost all of whom can be considered legal conservatives (those who can be described as constitutionally faithful), including Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito.

McCain's government service hasn't been defined by poking a stick in the eye of opponents -- but instead by working hard and trying to create tangible accomplishments for a nation he bled for in war.

We'll get a sense of just how post-partisan McCain and Obama are in just a few weeks when they name their vice presidential running mates. Will Obama choose Hillary Clinton, the valedictorian of the Bill Clinton School of Politics? Will McCain choose Mitt Romney -- a man willing to do anything and say anything to please whatever electorate happens to be before him? Romney's slick presidential campaign was downright Bill Clintonesque.

Middle America is sending a message. The two major political parties nominated the men who seemed most willing to usher in a new style of politics. The one who seems ready to turn the page the fastest likely will be rewarded with the most coveted chair in American politics.
Cordel Faulk is The Times-Dispatch's Commentary editor. Contact him at (804) 649-6480 or cfaulk@timesdispatch.com.