Good news for American voters: Change is coming.

The bad news: If delivering change were enough, we might as well elect a Coke machine.

At the moment, both Sen. John McCain and Sen. Barack Obama enjoy identical, 60-percent favorable ratings. Many Americans admire both men. Treat suspiciously anyone who tells you this is bad.

Sen. Obama, at 47, is a youngish baby boomer with a foot in two generations. He also embodies the multicultural face of 21st-century America. His supporters make a reasonable point when they say, essentially, “generational change is inevitable, let’s get on with it.”

Sen. McCain, at 72, represents authentic, 20th-century heroism. His devotion to country and public service is stirring. As president, he would be a steady helmsman as the nation navigates today’s troubled waters.

For the first time in my adult life, it is September of a presidential election year, and I honestly don’t know how I’ll cast my vote. I’m not just middle-of-the-road politically; I’m the actual white stripe. I took a long survey once designed to pinpoint my political leanings. My computer stewed for a moment before shuddering and giving up.

Pollsters say that undecided suburban voters hold the key in this election. So, from here in suburban Chattanooga, I’d like to make the following suggestion. I’d like to see the candidates ditch the word “change.” “Change” is a commentary, not a call to action.

I’d like to suggest a better slogan, one that better represents the prevailing mood in my little corner of middle America: “Serve and conserve.”

Most American moderates, I think, want a president who will be honest with us about the challenges ahead, such as:

n Diminishing natural resources.

n Dangerous enemies hostile to the American way of life.

n Debts, both personal and public, that threaten our prosperity and hang like a sharp blade over our children.

n Entitlement, me-first attitudes at all rungs of the socio-economic ladder.

What makes both candidates shine, in my view, is the fact that they both have actually put service before self in their lives — Sen. McCain as a POW in Vietnam and Sen. Obama as editor of the Harvard Law Review who set aside personal prosperity as a young man to help poor people in Chicago.

Together, Sen. McCain and Sen. Obama make the case for the kind of public service that is ultimately the only way out of our national morass.

Our new president is also going to have to help us coalesce around the concept of conserving through shared sacrifice; conserving energy, conserving money, conserving lives.

Here’s where it gets tricky. Young Americans will inherit a debt-ridden, resource-depleted, militarily weakened country unless more of us, at all ages, start serving and conserving.

In the next few weeks, try to ignore the negative advertising and the endless parsing of tax proposals from both Democrats and Republicans. The lasting legacy of this election will be whether we elect a leader who inspires Americans, young and old, to a higher purpose. I can make the case that either man will.

In the meantime, we American moderates have our jaws set. Join us. Serve and conserve, or get out of the way.

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