This morning, New Hampshire Representative Paul Hodes endorsed Sen. Obama for president, and we made sure the poorest people on Earth were represented at the rally in Eagle Square in Concord.

Armed with ONE bands, a few ONE volunteers and I positioned ourselves on the top stairs to make sure our ONE shirts were seen by Sen. Obama and Congressman Hodes. But to our surprise, when they finally came out, both Sen. Obama and Rep. Hodes were already wearing ONE bands! Apparently some ONE members had already banded them, and Rep. Hodes’ wife Peggo ahead of time!

In his speech, Rep. Hodes talked about meeting Sen. Obama on a cold winter day in February in Eagle Square. Many ONE members who read this blog will recall that the ONE Campaign was there too, for a chance meeting Sen. Obama and how Rep. Hodes showed the senator his own ONE band while Melissa Skinner spoke with him about the need to fight AIDS and poverty in Africa.

During Sen. Obama’s speech he told the crowd that America was ready to work with the rest of the world on important global issues like stopping the genocide in Darfur and that we are “ready to lead on alleviating poverty and helping educate kids so that schools are built and they are not educated in hatred.”

There were a lot of people and Obama made his way through the crowd afterward. I was able to thank him for remembering the bottom billion people while campaigning up here in New Hampshire. I was also able to briefly talk with Rep. Hodes and thank him for wearing the ONE band back in February and today!

It is not everyday that you get to talk with a senator and a representative about the world’s poorest people. But here in New Hampshire, and across the nation, voters are realizing that ONE Vote ‘08 is our opportunity to change the world and save millions of lives. By emailing, calling, and faxing Congress and by by creating a ONE Vote ‘08 presence at political rallies, we are displaying a strong force and calling on our leaders to do what it takes to make poverty history.