If you’ve been distracted lately by lipstick, bridges to nowhere and the ongoing financial meltdown on Wall Street, you might have missed one of this election season’s most significant events.

On the seventh anniversary of 9/11, Barack Obama and John McCain participated in a presidential forum on national service. The forum was part of a Service Nation summit convened in New York City to commemorate the day of national tragedy. It was a solemn, thoughtful reflection on how America has changed since 9/11.

The forum focused on ways that Americans can serve their communities and their country at a time of critical need, and the candidates had a chance to air their ideas on promoting civic engagement.

Much of the conversation revolved around national service by young people. But civic engagement and service to the community also is a very hot topic among older Americans, especially baby boomers.

The older boomers now closing in on 60 came of age during the social and political upheaval of the 1960s and early 1970s. Since then, they’ve been hard at work raising families, building careers and sending kids to college; now, many anticipate using newfound free time to get back involved.

Mobilizing even a portion of the boomer generation could yield enormous results, simply because the group is so large. The boomer generation is the largest in American history, accounting for roughly 78 million Americans. Whenever this group moves in a particular direction, the impact is huge.

And there are clear signs the shift is underway. A study released earlier this year by the Metlife Foundation and Civic Ventures—a think tank focused on engaging older adults in socially meaningful work—found that a surprisingly large number of boomers already have moved from primary careers into what Civic Ventures has dubbed “encore careers”—work that combines income with personal meaning and social impact.

Somewhere between six to 10 percent of Americans age 44 to 70 are already engaged in encore careers, according to the study. So, we’re talking about 5.3 to 8.4 million people engaged in service-oriented fields such as education, health care, government and the non-profit sector.

And about half of boomers not already in encore careers said that’s where they see themselves heading. If they follow through on that ambition, the national service army of boomers would grow by millions more.

At the presidential forum, McCain and Obama both made clear that they are passionate about encouraging national and community service. And the candidates’ policy ideas on national service aren’t far apart.

Obama has articulated a series of specific policies, including expansion of the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS)—which runs the AmeriCorps volunteer program—and the Peace Corps. He also wants to vastly expand service by young people, including a $4,000 annual college tuition credit for students who “give back.”

McCain promises to create a Service to America initiative aimed at promoting and inspiring public service.

Meanwhile, both candidates are sponsors in the Senate of the Serve America Act, bi-partisan legislation introduced this month by Senators Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) that aims to attract 175,000 new volunteers in the next five years. The bill would provide $5 billion over five years to help nonprofits, community organizations and faith-based programs create volunteer opportunities to assist low-income Americans in areas such as education, health care and job training.

Obama and McCain both have acknowledged the importance of engaging older Americans; both candidates propose expanding the Senior Corps, which is part of CNCS and focuses on volunteerism for Americans over age 55.

But I haven’t heard much yet from either candidate suggesting that either really gets it when it comes to the potential of unleashing millions of baby boomers on our country’s problems at a time when they have the time—and numbers—to make a difference.

It would be especially interesting to hear the candidates talk about public policy options that would help unleash the civic engagement potential of older Americans.

Marc Freedman, the CEO of Civic Ventures and a thought leader in this area, has advocated a new “social compact” between government and boomers. Fiscal and financial assistance would come in return for longer working lives in areas of high social need. That might include eliminating taxation of Social Security benefits to make the benefit more valuable, and plugging the “Medicare gap” years by making it possible for people in their 50s to buy into Medicare.

Indeed, the Metlife/Civic Ventures survey shows that affordable healthcare is one of the biggest challenge boomers face in leaving their careers to pursue national or community service.

RESOURCES: If you didn’t catch the presidential forum on national service, I’ve posted the video here.

Read previous RetirementRevised articles on volunteer service and encore careers.

Tags | volunteering