I just got off a conference call hosted by Steve Schmidt, who is a senior adviser on the John McCain campaign.

The purpose of the call was to introduce a campaign tour that Sen. John McCain is taking around the country starting on Monday. The Serving America Tour is a tour of the places that have helped to shape Sen. McCain’s lifetime of service to America.

The goal of the tour is to “begin the formal process of introducing Sen. John McCain to the American people.” During this introduction, Sen. McCain plans to tell stories from his life that have shaped his views on right and wrong, and his devotion to serving his country. These stories will attempt to connect the past to the present to the future.

Along the way, Sen. McCain wants to talk about the future of America; the role of the government versus the responsibilities of citizens. I think it’s here where Sen. McCain can really drive home the “stark contrast” between himself and Obama (the presumptive) — McCain believes that citizens should be responsible for themselves, Obama believes that the Government is better suited for taking care of people.

• Day 1 — Meridian, Mississippi — McCain will discuss his lifetime and his family’s history of duty to the United States. He’ll remind us that a member of his family “has fought in every war in America’s history.” Which will play nicely against the unspoken counter to that statement — that not a single member of Obama’s family has fought in a single war in America’s history.
• Day 2 — Alexandria, Virginia — At Episcopal High School, Sen. McCain will talk about the “Mark of a Man”, and will describe his relationship with a high school English teacher that “shaped his feelings about right and wrong.”
• Day 3 — US Naval Academy at Annapolis — McCain will describe his journey from a young man into a military man. He’ll talk about his desire to “break rank rather than move up in rank”. It’s at this time that McCain will call America to service — not just to military service but to service to our communities through teaching, becoming police officers and nurses. McCain will tell us that, “the most important thing I learned was….the honor of serving something greater than my self-interest.

  This will be another opportunity to illustrate the “stark contrast”, as — by all indications — Obama has lived a life honoring nothing but his own self interest.

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Others on the conference call that I caught (I’ll link to their posts after they post them, as they asked some interesting and tough questions for Steve Schmidt):

• Ed Morrissey for Hot Air — asked if McCain will address the issue of Juan Hernandez on his campaign
• John Hawkins for RightWingNews — asked about the SAVE Act, and whether McCain is blocking its passage (as alleged by Rep. Heath Shuler). Schmidt said that Shuler may have “had one too many encounters with a linebacker”, and that his accusations are “false”.
• Hugh Hewitt for TownHall — asked about specifics on promises to expand the military. Schmidt wants to allow McCain to give the specifics, including anything on the Navy.
• Doug Lambert for GraniteGrok — asked if the campaign would prefer a series of Lincoln-Douglas style debates rather then the normal “quiz-show format.”
• Jennifer Rubin for Commentary Magazine — asked about McCain’s views on taxes.