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BONITA SPRINGS — National security experts aren’t known for an ability to deliver history-making addresses.

But that didn’t keep two of them from attempting Wednesday afternoon to energize about 75 supporters of Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama.

Former senior White House adviser Richard Clarke and retired U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. J. Scott Gration spoke for about an hour in a room at the back of Florida Gulf Coast University’s Alico Arena.

Both men are now advisers for Obama’s campaign, a duty they also found to be a bit unusual for them.

“We are both on our first presidential campaign, hopefully our last presidential campaign,” Clarke said. “National security guys don’t normally go around and give speeches. We’re a little bit out of our comfort zones, but we have to be.”

Clarke said he was participating in Obama’s “Change We Need” Foreign Policy tour, which brought him to a half dozen Florida universities in two days, because he’s been hearing misconceptions about Obama’s Republican rival John McCain from members of the public. Clarke said he’s been told by voters McCain’s experiences in the Navy, including his stay at the Hanoi Hilton, led McCain to be a man with sound national security judgment.

“We honor him for being a war hero,” Clarke said, “but on the first big tests in the 21st century Barack Obama has been right and John McCain has been wrong.”

Those tests had to do with the War on Terror. Clarke said McCain was for invading Iraq, against a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq and against sending more troops into Afghanistan. Obama, on the other end, has taken the opposite stance on those issues months and in some cases years before other leaders take the same stance and determine it’s the way to go.

“Take the word of the bi-partisan 9/11 Commission, take the word even of George Bush, if it’s worth anything. Even George Bush now has admitted that Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11,” Clarke said. “And yet even Sen. McCain advocated for going to war in Iraq. He advocated before 9/11, he advocated after 9/11. The day they were pulling bodies out of the World Trade Center, Sen. McCain said we have to go to war in Iraq.”

Gration had earlier quoted the speech Obama gave at a Chicago anti-war rally on Oct. 2, 2002, in which Obama said any war in Iraq would require a U.S. occupation of “undetermined length, at undetermined cost, with undetermined consequences.”

“I think the guy who got it right was Barack Obama,” Clarke said.

Hidden next to those audience members wearing Obama buttons and hanging onto signs bearing “Veterans for Obama” were a few McCain supporters. Some came because they needed to; their professor made a grade out of the event. Others, though, came for Clarke and Gration.

“I thought it was great. Both of them were very well spoken and I have tremendous respect for both of them,” said Patrick D’eramo, 23, an FGCU junior majoring in political science. D’eramo said he is in support of McCain, because of the senator’s experiences in and out of elected office. He said the presentation didn’t change his views one way or the other, but did enlighten him on Obama’s experience in foreign policy.

“I found their insight very interesting,” D’eramo said of the two speakers.

Gration shared several anecdotes of his experiences watching Obama form sound foreign policy decisions. Gration, who grew up in the Democratic Republic of Congo, said he speaks Swahili, a key reason he was asked to join Obama on a fact-finding mission to Africa in 2006.

A 27-year veteran of the Air Force, Gration has served in a number of different foreign policy and national security-related positions. He was in the Pentagon during the 9/11 attacks. He was also in command of the 4404th Operations Group (Provisional) when 19 U.S. servicemen, one Saudi and 372 others were wounded in a truck bomb explosion near a barracks. The attackers were later identified as members of the Hezbollah Al-Hejaz terrorist group.

“The thing that really impressed me about him was his intellect ... this time I want a smart president,” Gration said of his first experiences with Obama.

“He would ask questions not only about what we were doing, but he wanted to know why were doing them and what we were trying to achieve and then he would critique that.”

Gration said Obama identified several problems brewing in Kenya during the Africa trip. Gration said Obama noted tribal bickering and corruption would likely lead to conflict.

“On the 26th of December, Kenya went into turmoil,” Gration said. “Sen. Obama predicted that.”

Clarke finished the event with a plea. He asked those in the audience to also do something they may not be used to, like initiating political discussions with friends.

“You’ve got to get out of your comfort zone. People aren’t persuaded by TV ads, they aren’t persuaded by billboards, they aren’t persuaded by phone calls,” Clarke said. “For Scott’s grandchildren, for our grandchildren, for all of us. Get out there and do what you can.”

Obama supporter and Naples resident George Lepnew, 68, said he has already been volunteering for the campaign, making phone calls to drum up support. He said he has talked with his friends about the campaign and is comfortable going door to door, as Clarke suggested.

“I suppose,” Lepnew said when asked if Clarke’s speech inspired him to work harder. “They both were very impressive guys.”