Patriotism and Politics

As we were discussing how to more properly define patriotism, I began to wonder about politics. All week we talked about how Senators and presidential candidates always say that the U.S. is the best country in the world, and how that is patriotic in a self-centered way, but not in the internationalist sense of fighting for freedom and the rights to voice opinions and defend the greater interests of people. So what would you have Barack Obama say? "Reelect me so that we can maintain our status as the nation that has good intentions but is no better than the other countries of the world" That will get politicians real far in the polls. Now, all sarcasm aside, is there an actual solution to this? I think that the problem is not in the politicians, but in the citizens, for the reason I just stated; politicians won't get anywhere in polls if they speak in an internationalist sense. Is it possible to broadcast this message farther than MCLA's philosophy department so that our fellow citizens can become enlightened? I'm not so sure it is, and for this reason I also do not believe that any political candidate will refrain from the phrase "America is the greatest country in the world".