Sen. John McCain was in New Hampshire on Monday and I caught up with him with some ONE members at a noontime stop at a Concord, NH local pub.

I gathered with ONE members Andrea, Lindsay and Concord Republican chair – and NH ONE Ambassador, Jeff Newman. Sen. McCain made his way through the bar and instantly recognized us and yelled out, “ONE!” like he was seeing an old friend. He thanked us for being there and commended the work we were doing in NH.

Because there were so many people in the restaurant we did not have much time to speak with him, but I snapped a picture on his way out the door. You can see NH ONE State Director Neil Levesque to his left and NH ONE Ambassador Jeff Newman (who always sports his ONE band) behind the Senator.

Afterward, I was able to speak with former Gov. and Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge, who is campaigning with Sen. McCain and was having lunch at the bar. After introducing myself, I spoke with him about PEPFAR and the Millennium Challenge Corporation. He stressed the importance of US humanitarian efforts around the world. He told me that it is a very important component of our foreign policy, and even more, he said it also reflects the values of our country. We also spoke about Sen. Brownback, who endorsed Sen. McCain, and has worked hard in the Senate to fully fund the MCC.

Here in New Hampshire, ONE is crossing party preferences and even candidate preferences, to unite as ONE to celebrate and encourage US efforts to save lives in the most desperate places on earth.

-Matthew Bartlett, Regional ONE Organizer