We had a busy day in Las Vegas on Friday. First, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright was in town to hold a foreign policy discussion at UNLV. I was able to attend with a few ONE volunteers and students.

During the discussion Secretary Albright talked about the need to reevaluate the way we approach our foreign policy including towards the continent of Africa. She also mentioned the need to do more to eradicate disease and genocide.

As a follow up I was able to ask her if she thought fighting poverty and disease was essential to our national security. Here was her response:

Also on Friday, Joe Biden held a rally in Henderson, NV. We had about a dozen ONE members there to remind the Senator about his commitment to fight AIDS in Africa.

-Matt Higginson

Well, Justin Timberlake was in Las Vegas to stump for Barack Obama on Saturday, October 11. He held a rally at the Clark County government complex. When I arrived I jumped for joy and screamed like a 13-year-old girl. Well, no I didn’t – but I did take a picture, thank him for his support of ONE (he appeared in our “WithYourVoice” TV ad in 2005) and the work he has done in Africa, and then I gave him a ONE wristband.

-Matt Higginson

This week Barack Obama held a rally here in Las Vegas, NV. We had a great showing from ONE members who wanted to hear more details about Obama’s plan to fight global poverty and disease.

With the economy dominating the current debate, global development was not discussed, but we were happy to be there and continue to make ONE’s presence known on the campaign trail.

-Matt Higginson

A few weeks ago a bunch of 20somethings from our local Carson City, Nevada, church put together a service project to raise awareness about ONE.

We had some great volunteers: Jason Gwinn, Haley Simpson, Parker Willey, Janelle Musselman, Ben Robinson, Amanda Robinson, Eric Libby, Trent Simpson, Mike McBride, Jessica McBride, Brian Cosens, Justin Simmons, Melanie Simmons (who is 8 months pregnant!), Jaime Sayer, and Ashley Boyd.

Everyone had a great time and it was amazing to see how getting involved changes your perspective. We are so glad we did it and looking forward to what we will do in the future!

-Jake Musselman

Obama’s vice presidential pick Senator Biden will be speaking at the DNCC tonight.

To prep- we’ve gone through these old Biden materials. Check out this one of ONE members meeting with him in Las Vegas during the primaries.

UPDATE: Event with Senator Joe Biden

Who: Senator Joe Biden
What: Voter rally
When: Friday 10/17 at 4:30pm
Where: Morell Park – 525 Harris St. Henderson, NV 89015

To RSVP click here: http://www.one.org/event/GeneralEvent/655

Yesterday, John McCain was campaigning in Sparks Nevada and as always ONE was there to great him.

On the rope line as Senator McCain entered the town hall he spotted my ONE shirt and pointed it out to his wife. Having just returned from Rwanda with ONE it was a familiar sight. I was able to thank Cindy for traveling with ONE and asked her how the trip went. “Amazing,” she said, “it was fantastic.”

Well it must have stayed on her mind. Prior to introducing her husband, Cindy spoke to the packed high school auditorium about the ONE Campaign and her “incredible journey through Rwanda.” She went on to offer her support for the efforts by ONE to make fighting extreme poverty and disease a foreign policy priority during this election season, and for the many organizations on the ground in Africa “offering hope to mothers and children through selfless aid work and service.”

Mrs. McCain went on to comment about the strength of African families and noted that the key to fighting these dreaded diseases will be to empower African women and mothers.

-Matt Higginson

This past weekend Nevada held its first ever early caucus. Like any political event, ONE was there. When I turned on CNN on Saturday I couldn’t miss seeing ONE shirts. But that was just one caucus, and with tens of thousands of members around Nevada and hundreds of caucus sites there are many more stories to be told than what was on the news.

A couple of volunteers have already sent in their stories of both easy successes and some frustrations:

It was a very successful day. In a 90-minute period I was given two separate opportunities to talk voters in my precinct about ONE and why it should be included in our party’s platform. It was well accepted both times and I had several people express their support for ONE after the meeting.

- Jack Winslow, Las Vegas Republican

Our Caucus went great–great experience! I had no problem submitting the plank. I was the only one to submit something that I wanted to include to the parties plank. Nobody objected and they all (32 people ) thought that it was a great idea. There was a great turn out at Bonanza High School. Several Thousand people.

- Rory K. Riley, Las Vegas Democrat

I talked up ONE to all my neighbors, explained the campaign, wrote down the internet source for members who seemed genuinely interested, distributed info and bracelets, delivered the resolution, and got myself elected to the county convention.

- Judy Michaels, Las Vegas Democrat

The caucus was a frustrating experience…but my frustrations were over issues other than my submission of the ONE platform. In fact, that was about the only thing that went much as I expected.

- David Entler

If you are a Nevadan ONE member, please take a moment to share your reflections from last weekend’s caucus by posting a comment below. It is important that we all have a chance to learn and find inspiration from your efforts.

The caucus just ended. 166 delegates showed up, many of them sporting ONE bands. There was a lot of excitement in the air. The final count was close with 17 delegates going to Obama and 16 to Clinton.

Jessica Vandenberg ran the Caesar’s Palace caucus and wore a ONE t-shirt. Since CNN was covering this particular caucus it was all over television (according to reports from my friends).

With a little national media for ONE, I am going to call this caucus location a success for ONE.

-Josh Peck

I am in Las Vegas, Nevada at Caesar’s palace, the site of one of the (recently contested) Democratic Party Caucus locations. The caucus is being setup as I type.

I stopped by Cashman Convention Center in Las Vegas yesterday afternoon which is the Results Reporting Headquarters. You can see table after empty table waiting for the day to begin. ONE Vote ’08 had a strong presence with banners and T-shirt clad volunteers all over the place. ONE Vote ’08 is also providing water for all the political reporters. The media should certainly know we’re here.

Now I am waiting for the first caucus-goers to arrive at Caesar’s Palace. The setup is a lot more modest, just a couple hundred people are expected (though I am not sure anyone really knows). We hope to see a few ONE members representing the fight against extreme poverty.

-Josh Peck

Nevada will be holding its first ever early caucus tomorrow morning. This is a chance for all Nevadans to play a crucial role in selecting the next president of the United States.

It is also a great time for everyone in the Silver State (and the rest of us for that matter) to look over what each candidate’s plan is for fighting extreme poverty and global disease. You can find what they have to say on the ONE Vote ’08 On the Record site.

Also, if you are going to be caucusing tomorrow but don’t know where to go, you can find your caucus location on:

• The Nevada Secretary of State’s page
• The Republican caucus page
• The Democratic caucus page

Have fun caucusing!