Bitter Cold on the ONE Campaign Trail

Jan 29th, 2007 11:30 AM UTC
By Matthew Bartlett

Saturday morning was a cold one here in New Hampshire. I was up early as Mayor Rudy Giuliani was in town to give a speech in Manchester and greet some Granite State voters.

In the back room of a downtown theatre, I waited for my opportunity to speak with the mayor and let him know that when he comes to New Hampshire, he should be talking about global poverty and disease.

While I was waiting in the room, I ran into a few friends and ONE supporters at the event. Everyone was still talking about the president’s State of the Union speech and what they were doing to ensure that the president’s words become a reality. It seems that our issues and our message is really getting through to a lot of people here in the state.

Then the mayor walked in the room. He was surrounded by security, press and NH voters of all ages. When he finally made his way over to me, I was able to briefly speak with him and talk about what the ONE Campaign means and how we as Americans want more action to fight AIDS and poverty in the developing world. The mayor also brought up the State of the Union and when I gave him our ONE band, he put it on immediately!

I was proud to use my voice on behalf of the billion people that do not have a voice in the world. Here in New Hampshire, primary season has started much earlier than ever before, but by organizing and coming together as ONE, I am confident that we will make sure that the next President of the United States knows that we can and will make poverty history.

So put your white band on, bundle up, and speak out!