You Ask on YouTube

CNN and YouTube have teamed up for two special presidential debates through which you have the chance to ask the candidates their stances on ONE’s issues. If you are chosen, you may get to see the debate live and give your thoughts afterwards. CNN is currently accepting submissions for the Democratic debate. The deadline for vote submissions is July 22 (but the earlier the better!).

We asked our ONE interns (and some staff) to come up with their own questions to ask the candidates—not surprisingly, the questions ended up sounding suspiciously like the kind of questions we’d like to hear at the debates! Even if they don’t get selected, they will surely be seen—one of them has over 250 views in only three days.

Submit your own question now, and don’t forget to add it to our ONE Vote ‘08 YouTube group as well.

Iowa ONE Vote Launch Coverage

Print/Online:

AP: Advocacy group joins list pushing caucus causes

Sioux City Journal Blog: Rally urges candidates to address global poverty

The Gazette: Coalition pushes world poverty issue/a>

Linn County Democrats Blog: ONE vote ‘08 Statewide Launch

Iowa Republican Party: Upcoming Events

TV:

WOI-TV CH 5 (ABC) Des Moines/Ames

KCRG-TV CH 9 (ABC) Cedar Rapids/Waterloo

KDSM-TV CH 17 (FOX) Des Moines/Ames

KFXA-TV CH 28 (FOX) Cedar Rapids/Waterloo

KWQC-TV CH 6 (NBC) Davenport/Rock Island/Moline

WHO-TV CH 13 (NBC) Des Moines/Ames

KGAN-TV CH 2 (CBS) Cedar Rapids/Waterloo

Radio:

Radio Iowa: ONE campaign launches Iowa effort targeting presidential
candidates

Iowans Supporting ONE Vote

These statements were released yesterday in support of the Iowa launch:

Ray Hoffmann, Chairman of the Republican Party of Iowa, issued this statement on the ONE Vote ’08:

“ONE Vote ‘08 is a very important bi-partisan campaign that is making global health and poverty a priority for candidates in the upcoming election. The Republican Party of Iowa is 100 percent behind ONE Vote ‘08 and their efforts to educate and involve voters in the political process by raising awareness of these global issues.”

Chairman Scott Brennan from the Iowa Democratic Party released the following statement in support of the ONE Vote ’08 Campaign:

“ONE Vote ’08 is a way for Iowans to bridge the partisanship that so often divides Democrats and Republicans; we can all unite behind the goal of ending extreme poverty around the world,” said Iowa Democratic Party Chair Scott Brennan. “As the First in the Nation Caucus, Iowa has a unique opportunity to encourage all presidential candidates to address the ways foreign policy and security will focus on saving lives by expanding global access to health services and education, while reducing the number of people living in hunger. I applaud these efforts and look forward to working with former Governor Terry Branstad and former Lt. Governor Sally Pederson in the fight against global poverty.”

Rep. Bruce Braley (D-Iowa) released the following statement yesterday on the launch of the Iowa ONE Vote ’08 campaign:

“Extreme poverty is a deeply disturbing problem that breeds global instability and unrest. Taking a strong leadership role in eliminating global poverty will only make America stronger in the eyes of the world. I’m proud to be a part of Iowa ONE Vote ‘08 to send a message to our next President that this issue is of critical importance.”

Rep. Dave Loebsack (R-IA) released the following statement yesterday on the launch of the Iowa ONE vote ’08 campaign:

“Thinking globally and helping others throughout the world has never been more important. I am proud to join the ONE Vote ’08 campaign because it is critical we elect a President committed to using our nation’s influence to help end global poverty. This is important for the future of America and the future of millions across the globe.”

F. Thompson and Wife: Banded in NH

Last night, Sen. Fred Thompson came to New Hampshire to meet with voters and explore the possibility of his own presidential run.

As we gathered in a convention room in Manchester, I saw a lot of ONE members floating around, and a few people flashed me the ONE bands that they received at the NH debates.

I was talking with ONE member, Andrea Synborski when Sen. Thompson turned the corner and approached us. Andrea told him about the ONE Campaign and I mentioned Senator Frist as being one of our nation co-chairs. Andrea pulled out a ONE band, as she did, he told her “Oh yes, I need a ONE band” and immediately put it on.

The room was filled with press and people soon crowded around Sen. Thompson so it was difficult to talk with him, but that did not stop our Marine Michael from getting a picture with him in his ONE shirt.

After the senator’s remarks, I was able to urge him to fight AIDS and poverty in Africa as president. I spoke briefly with the senator’s wife and offered her a ONE band too. She asked “what is ONE”, and I described the movement of Americans that want our nation to fight AIDS and poverty in Africa. But before I could finish my sentence, she enthusiastically recognized what ONE was and told me that she had read all about it on Sen. Frist’s website! She gladly accepted a ONE band from me and told me she would reiterate our message to her husband.

Senator Thompson said that he will be back to New Hampshire, and when he does, he will undoubtedly hear from ONE members that it is time to make poverty history.”

Iowa Launches!

Today’s Iowa ONE Vote ‘08 launch was a great success not only for
Iowa but for the entire campaign so far. People from far reaches of
the state and beyond came out to help us kick off this great campaign
including Iowa native Jessica Vanden Berg who has been out in D.C.
running things for us.

It started off with a great performance by Tubabu, an African percussion band
that played before the speakers took the stage. Gov. Terry Branstad welcomed
the crowd to the event and spoke a few words about the importance of the campaign before
turning it over to Lt. Gov. Sally Pederson who emphasized the importance of
educating the public on these issues so that we can come together as one to help fight for the issues.

After Lt. Gov. Pederson, Natalie Sugira took the podium and told a
very heart felt story about her journey from Rwanda to the United
States back in 1990 and how she lost close family members to the
genocide in Rwanda. She spoke of friends of hers that managed to
survive the genocide only to die from HIV/AIDS to put a human face on
the struggle that we are fighting for.

Overall, about 100+ people were in attendance with many expressing their excitement and anxiousness
to start helping our campaign in anyway possible.

Perhaps the most unique part of the morning was seeing republican and
democratic presidential campaigns stand side by side at tables we had
set up for them to promote their candidate. It could have made for
some tense moments but everyone handled it in a very professional
manner. We in Iowa look forward to adding to the already great
successes of the ONE Campaign over the course of the next several
months.

Office Party With Edwards

Yesterday, I attended an office party in Columbia at the new South Carolina headquarters for John Edwards. The senator and his wife answered questions from different office and house parties from around the country via teleconferencing. He is an avid fan of ONE, and he stressed the moral imperative of ending global poverty, with education, improving sanitation, and economic development as corner stones of his initiative.

Several of the people attending the event were quite impressed with his commitment to fight global AIDS and poverty, particularly those who were with the South Carolina Campaign to End AIDS. After the teleconference ended I took a picture with the Edwards staffers and several attendees all proudly displaying their ONE Bands.

Who Needs Tickets, Anyway?

For those of you in DC, Democratic presidential candidates Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, Christopher Dodd, John Edwards, Mike Gravel, Dennis Kucinich, Barack Obama and Bill Richardson will participate in a live, televised forum tonight at Howard University. We are trying to get tickets, but they are very limited, so keep reading for how you can make an impact with ONE Vote ‘08.

ONE’s membership is working to end extreme poverty and the HIV/AIDS pandemic. We know our next president must support these goals as well, so let’s give these presidential candidates a message when they arrive at Howard University tonight. Each ONE volunteer will get one sign that says one of the following words, “What will you do to end extreme poverty and AIDS?” The candidates will read the signs much like a billboard as he or she drives past the volunteers.

We need volunteers from 7 pm to 8:30 pm tonight. For more info, email me at Ranna@one.org.

Vote Now for the Global Poverty Act of 2007

HR 1302: The Global Poverty Act of 2007 is one of this season’s legislative priorities.

H.R. 1302 would require the President to develop and implement a comprehensive strategy to further the United States foreign policy objective of promoting the reduction of global poverty, the elimination of extreme global poverty, and the achievement of the United Nations Millennium Development Goal of reducing by one-half the proportion of people worldwide, between 1990 and 2015, who live on less than $1 per day.

This is early in the legislative process, but the Washington Watch summary is excellent. Right now, online voting (see the left-side navigation), is running slightly against this potentially transformational legislation.

Head over to vote in their online poll and comment on why you think it’s important for America to take solid steps eradicate extreme poverty worldwide.

[Click for the complete bill text here.]

A Stroll through the Neighborhood

This afternoon the Iowa ONE Vote ‘08 team canvassed the East Village of Des Moines talking to shop owners and hanging fliers to promote tomorrow’s big launch. We also took some time to check out our new office space which is in the heart of Iowa’s political neighborhood and in the shadow of the state capital. We introduced ourselves to everyone, and overall the feedback from shopowners in the area was very positive! Those who were unaware of the ONE Campaign were very excited to hear about our work and excited that we would be in the same neighborhood. The East Village will be a great location to set up camp with all the campaign headquarters being within a couple miles of our office.

We are really looking forward to the launch tomorrow to get Iowans as excited as we are and to kick this campaign off to a great start!

A Special Visit

Today in the office we were lucky to have a very special guest pay us a visit. Charlie Engle was one of the three super-athletes who successfully completed the astonishing feat of running across the Sahara this past year. If you are not impressed yet, just imagine this: Running for 111 consecutive days, only one of which covered less than 25 miles and with 75 days which covered more than 50 miles; shedding 30 pounds in the first 30 days, despite the fact of eating over 10,000 calories a day, 2000 of which came from Gatorade alone. And if you wish you could have met him at the end of the journey in Egypt, consider this: out of those 111 days, only 2 days included a shower.

Charlie has been an incredible advocate for ONE, and with the coming sure-to-be-spectacular Running the Sahara documentary—which chronicles this unprecedented expedition of pure endurance and will power. We are honored to work with and support Charlie, whom ONE’s President and CEO Susan McCue called a “hero in the sports world, and also a hero in the global poverty world.”

As Charlie tells it, when he first started the expedition, he was “a runner, decent human being, fairly active in my community,” but was not yet an activist. All that changed when during his pre-run scouting he visited the Niger city of Agadez, which Charlie describes as “500,000 people living in a city meant for 50,000 people.” He realized that there was one obvious reason for the over-population: lack of water. They had no choice. “If there was water there, we wouldn’t have 500,000 people living there.”

Since then, raising awareness about the basic need for clean water in Africa has become a central theme in Charlie’s life. He tells stories from the run of saving one person’s life with the aid of nothing more than clean water and basic antibiotics. After the documentary, Charlie is not thinking of retiring. He already has plans for his next big adventure, and you can bet ONE will be right along with him.

Stay tuned for some video clips from Charlie’s visit with the office.