It's a curious thing how the notion of American exceptionalism has been twisted and turned into a bludgeon, not only to assert American superiority but also to employ as a test of allegiance.

The Republican presidential candidates have wielded the concept with great enthusiasm, both as a way to stress their patriotic fervor and cast doubt on President Barack Obama's belief in the pre-eminence of -- even love for -- the country he leads.

Consider a few sound bites. "We have a president right now who thinks America's just another nation," Mitt Romney said during one GOP debate. "America is an exceptional nation." And this in South Carolina: "God did not create this country to be a nation of followers. America is not destined to be one of several equally balanced global powers. ... I will not surrender America's role in the world."

Rick Santorum was more blunt. Obama, he has said, "doesn't believe that America is exceptional." Which, after all, may not be less blunt than the thinly veiled Romney bumper sticker: "Believe in America."

Newt Gingrich, who devoted his most recent book to the topic ("A Nation Like No Other: Why American Exceptionalism Matters"), asserts that the president "simply does not understand this concept."

"This concept" has taken many meanings, but in recent decades, it has conveyed economic, political and military supremacy -- and is often code among neoconservatives to justify aggressive foreign policy. Yet its origins are quite contrary, rooted in the idea that America's special character carries special obligations.

French writer Alexis de Tocqueville is typically credited with first using the term "exceptional" in his 1830 masterwork "Democracy in America," in which he characterizes the new nation's egalitarianism, individualism, social mobility and practical democracy. John Winthrop, sermonizing to Pilgrim settlers in 1630, described the biblical "city upon a hill" and its unique moral responsibility to set an example for the world.

The most meaningful expression of the promise and the burden may be found in the first paragraph of the Federalist Papers, where Alexander Hamilton describes our American political experiment and its resounding message: "It seems to have been reserved to the people of this country, by their conduct and example, to decide the important question, whether societies of men are really capable or not of establishing good government from reflection and choice, or whether they are forever destined to depend for their political constitutions on accident and force."

So, what of President Obama, who has triggered such ire from his opponents? In a 2009 press conference in Strasbourg, France, he told a reporter of the international Financial Times, "I believe in American exceptionalism, just as I suspect that the Brits believe in British exceptionalism and the Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism." He's still paying for that comment.

Of course, that's not all he said. "I'm enormously proud of my country and its role and history in the world," he went on. "I think we have a core set of values that are enshrined in our Constitution, in our body of law, in our democratic practices, in our belief in free speech and equality, that, though imperfect, are exceptional."

After noting that the U.S. is the world's largest economy and possesses "unmatched military capability," the president concluded by offering up a global-minded view that positions the U.S. among the league of nations. The setting was a summit of North Atlantic Treaty Organization countries to celebrate the 60th anniversary of NATO. Not exactly the context to assert a unilateralist, go-it-alone foreign policy.

His pride in America, Obama said, "does not lessen my interest in recognizing the value and wonderful qualities of other countries, or recognizing that we're not always going to be right, or that other people may have good ideas, or that in order for us to work collectively, all parties have to compromise, and that includes us."

There lies the line in the sand, the shift in perspective that three years after the gunslinger ethos of the Bush-Cheney era still seems so jarring. It's no wonder that some conservatives cannot abide his comfort in stating that we can learn from our global peers -- that there may be times when we can or should take a backseat.

This is a fight that we'll be hearing again and again between now and Election Day: The president doubts the unique, God-given place of America in the world. His unwillingness to pledge faith in America's exceptional status is the difference between heading boldly toward a prosperous future or drifting down an inexorable path of decline.

If only boasting made it so. The unfortunate irony is that asserting the notion typically arrives with an intoxicating air of self-satisfaction; this can lead to the unfortunate malady of complacency, something America can ill-afford.

Given the serious challenges the country faces, we could use a little less "we're No. 1" hubris and little more focus on great ideas -- whichever country they come from -- and working together.

It's hardly time to accept the status quo when, for example, the U.S. ranks 50th globally in secondary-education enrollment rates and American 15-year-olds rank 31st in math performance (wedged between Luxembourg and Portugal) and 23rd in science (between Hungary and Czech Republic). China, Singapore and Finland sit at the top of these lists from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Maybe, just maybe, a leading nation can enhance its strength by incorporating insights gleaned from the successes of our global competitors -- and a presidential candidate can acknowledge it on the campaign trail without expecting a slot in the next installment of "Profiles in Courage."

Faced with deep dysfunction in Washington and approval of Congress at an all-time low, the U.S. Constitution, Declaration of Independence and singular immigrant history continue to provide great inspiration for America's unique sense of destiny. But in the months ahead, as we continue to hear talk of American exceptionalism used as a battering ram to question love for country, it's worth recalling Samuel Johnson's famous adage: "Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel."

Hewing closely to America's greatness means rolling up our sleeves, getting down to work and fixing things, not blithely boasting about who is better and more patriotic than whom.

Steven Beschloss is a Valley-based journalist who has written about economics and politics, urban affairs and international affairs for the New York Times, New Republic, Chicago Tribune, Parade magazine and many others. He is the co-author of the recently published "Adrift: Charting Our Course Back to a Great Nation." Find out more at www.stevenbeschloss.com.