Cindy and Rudy were greeted by hundreds of elementary and high school students at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia yesterday. But of course their visit wouldn’t be complete without greetings from the ONE Campaign.

Cindy McCain noticed me in the crowd and crouched down beside me for a picture! “I love your shirt,” she said, “I went to Rwanda with ONE!” It is obvious that her experience stays with her as she travels on the campaign trail.

-Lauren Conn

Quick Email from Matt in NH:

Group of 5 ONE members ran into Rudy at lunch. We made CNN footage too!

Meighan and Melissa are off to see Huck at a polling station.

Much more to come…

MRB

New Hampshire was still digging out from a weekend snow blast, but that did not stop Rudy Giuliani from campaigning this week…nor did it stop Michael Castaldo, ONE’s Marine, from making it out on the campaign trail for the poorest people on Earth.

Mayor Giuliani had only one scheduled campaign event on Monday – and it was at a NH business and closed to the public. But Michael figured that the mayor may make some “unannounced” stops while he was in the Dover area.

He send me this:

I called a friend that was “in the know” about Rudy and he told me the Mayor was going to do an editorial board meeting at Foster’s Daily Democrat in Dover, but that right now, he was on his way to the “Christmas Dove” in Barrington… 5 miles from my house! So a quick shower and shave, and I was on the move! The owners of the shop are ONE members and were sad they did not have their ONE shirts on! But they were glad to get another band as was their two year old daughter.

When the Mayor arrived, he shook my hand, and I was able to ask him if he would agree to make a video to go “On the Record”. He told me he would be glad to, and that he would get in touch with HQ on the subject. Later after choosing a Santa clause character for his house, he posed for a photo with me.

The snow is here in NH but that doesn’t stop ONE Vote ‘08 and the voices of 2.4 million ONE members that are making sure the next president of the United States is a leader in the fight against global disease, and extreme – stupid – poverty. Way to Michael!

-Matthew Bartlett, Regional ONE Organizer

Libby is back at it, delivering On the Record petitions to the Ron Paul and Rudy Giuliani campaigns in Iowa. Great work, Libby! Check back here often to find out the latest on the campaign and how you can get the presidential candidates to go on the record and commit to fighting extreme poverty and global disease.

-Aaron Banks

Mayor Rudy Giuliani campaigned in Hampton, NH, Sunday afternoon and ONE’s Marine Michael Castaldo made it to the town hall to make sure that he heard and saw the ONE Campaign.

Although Michael did not get a chance to ask his question, he told me that many people at the event were already aware of the ONE Campaign and our efforts to save lives around the world. Some even signed up for ONE from the ONE literature he passed out. In fact, one of Rudy’s top campaign advisors told me at the Winter Stroll that he had just talked with ONE advisor Jack Oliver and said how Jack is a great advocate for such a great organization.

Michael told me that after the event, it was very hard to get close to Rudy, but he saw Michael and made sure to go over and speak with him and take a photo with Michael in his ONE shirt.

In this election season, Republicans and Democrats are divided by party lines, and sometimes even divided by candidate campaigns…but no matter who you are, no matter who you support, everyone can agree that the ONE Campaign crosses all lines to make sure that the next president of the United States is a leader in the fight against global disease and extreme poverty.

-Matthew Bartlett, ONE Regional Organizer

Saturday night, the city of Nashua, NH, held a Winter Holiday Stroll that attracted many of the city’s residents (and a few presidential candidates) to the downtown area.

ONE member Brandon Laws hit Main Street just as Mayor Rudy Giuliani made his was down the stroll. Brandon was able to briefly talk with the mayor and let him know that as a member of the ONE Campaign, he thought it was very important for our nation to do everything we can to help save lives in Africa and end extreme poverty. Rudy thanked him and even posed for a quick picture.

Later, as we walked down the street, I was able to talk with Rudy and thank him for the answer he gave me a few weeks ago at a town hall meeting when he told the crowd that as we have the richest economy in the world the US must be a global leader in fighting malaria and AIDS in Africa, and said that we need to encourage more trade with Africa. Rudy told me that he really believes in our work and that the ONE Campaign “gets it.”

Rudy ran into a few more ONE members as he made his way that night. Even in cold New Hampshire, people are realizing that we can save lives in the poorest nations on earth, when we drop our party differences and unite as ONE.

-Matthew Bartlett, ONE Regional Organizer

Rudy Giuliani came to speak to Iowa State students on campus last week and was greeted by a crowd of over 400 – including several ONE supporters. Mr. Giuliani spoke for a while and then took questions from the audience. When I asked him what a Giuliani Administration would do to support the UN’s Millennium Development Goals, he said, “I would work very hard to continue the programs that President Bush has supported and increasing them.” Seeing my ONE T-shirt, he added, “You do great work!”

After the event, I got the chance to shake Mr. Giuliani’s hand and offered him a ONE wristband which he wore as he posed for a photo and continued to shake hands with the crowd!

-Nora Tobin, President of Iowa State ONE Chapter

As covered by CNN.com, Mayor Giuliani answered questions about AIDS, PEPFAR and trade at a recent Columbia, South Carolina, campaign stop.

On PEPFAR:

Giuliani was questioned on whether he would renew PEPFAR, or the President’s Plan for Emergency AIDS Relief, which is due to expire in 2008….

“I would continue that and if necessary expand it and am very open to it,” Giuliani said. “I talked to the president about it a long time back. That is something I would very much support.”

On Trade:

“I would try to increase dramatically trade with Africa,” Giuliani said. “Because what we’re really trying to do is help Africa get to the point where the African countries can take care of this problem themselves.”

“There’s nothing better than to help to make people self-sufficient, and aid helps them get through crisis, but then trade helps them to self-sufficiency.”

Read the full CNN Political Ticker piece here.

Mayor Rudy Giuliani held a town hall meeting at St. Anselm’s college today in Manchester, so I caught up with a few ONE members sporting ONE shirts and ONE bands and headed over.

After a brief speech, Rudy opened it up to questions from the crowd and I was able to use my voice for the poorest people in the world. After noting the U.S.’s historic AIDS and Malaria initiative, I said that I think our nation is the greatest nation in the world, and that when we save lives, it proves it to the world. I then talked about how Bill Gates had recently asked all of the presidential candidates to support and expand the President’s Malaria Initiative and asked Rudy if he would continue that effort.

Even before I could finish my question, Rudy started by saying empathically “Of course! Of course!”, and was very anxious to tell me how he strongly supports US efforts in Africa!

He took his glasses off and said that everyone should realize what this administration has done to save lives in Africa, and the entire crowd clapped. Rudy complimented ONE for our work bringing Republicans and Democrats together as Americans, and went on to say that the US needs to be the number one leader in these global efforts, like fighting AIDS, because we are the richest economy in the world!

Then he said that the United States does a lot of trade with Europe, and that we are starting to do more trade with Latin America, but told the crowd that we need look to Africa and encourage more trade with African countries too.

After the event I tried to snap a few photos of ONE members with the Mayor but we were unable, so I got a great shot of ONE member and St. Anselm’s student Rachel in her Edun shirt!

-Matthew Bartlett, ONE Regional Organizer

Rudy Giuliani was at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, on Oct 17, holding a town hall meeting with more than 400 students and community members. Rudy spoke about his plans for healthcare and the economy and took questions from the crowd.

I was able to ask: “There are over 38 million people in the world living with HIV/AIDS, what is your plan to fight this global epidemic?”

Giuliani expressed interest in increasing funding to foreign nations for this battle. He then proceeded to mention the ONE Campaign, put on his glasses to see all the ONE shirts in the crowd, and recognized the ONE Campaign for doing good work and for having the power to bring Democrats and Republicans together to support a great common cause.

- Jennie Huntrods, ONE Member and Drake Student