As the candidates, media and ONE Vote get ready to head over to the Florida primary, I decided to recap my time at the South Carolina primary with something a little different: a list of my top 10 favorite things about the First in the South primary.
10. You never know what candidate events will bring. In South Carolina, we sent two ONE members to the Lowcountry Sportsmen Barbecue for Newt Gingrich. We didn’t know what a “lowcountry sportsman” was, but we took a leap of faith and sent Kate and Adrienne out to talk with Speaker Gingrich about extreme poverty-fighting. And it was well worth it, as the ladies had an opportunity to speak with Gingrich directly.
ONE Vote Organizer Zach Lamb reflects on his favorite part of being on the campaign trail.
Whew, our First in the South primaries sure have caused a little shakeup.
Now that the votes are in and the candidates are moving to the Sunshine State, I took a moment to reflect on what I thought was a rather exciting moment. While talking to the candidates and surrogates about the importance of development aid has been crucial, I think my favorite part of this cycle is educating the voters around me in the crowds about foreign aid.
Charlie Harris, our ONE Vote organizer for South Carolina, walks us through a typical day on the presidential campaign trail.
The campaign trail is an exciting place to work, especially when you are out talking about the fight against extreme poverty with voters, campaigns, and candidates. It is an immensely rewarding experience, though on some days, plenty of coffee is needed to make it through!
1. The alarm buzzes too early sometimes, but when you have a chance to get your ONE shirt on TV, sometimes you have to wake up before the chickens.
The eyes of the nation are on South Carolina as voters here go to the polls this Saturday. ONE members in South Carolina have been all across the state talking to candidates, campaigns and voters. To recap some of the past few days, we started last Sunday in Myrtle Beach. ONE had a booth as part of the SCGOP experience exhibition there, and we handed out coffee and talked to voters and SC politicos about our ONE Vote 2012 campaign. The great response and support from everyone we spoke to was inspiring, and showed how these issues really resonate with people from all political backgrounds.
ONE Volunteers Doug and Stuart at the ONE Vote booth in Myrtle Beach
ONE Vote Organizer Zach Lamb reports on the presidential primaries from South Carolina. Follow him at @ZachLamb on Twitter for more updates.
We’ve kicked off the First in the South primary season here in South Carolina. With warm 70 degree January weather, the campaigns are shedding their New Hampshire coats and really heating up the campaign trail.
Down in the Lowcountry, I was able to engage Governors Jon Huntsman and Rick Perry and Senator Rick Santorum on supporting development programs that help end diseases and get clean water systems to those who desperately need it.
Governor Huntsman was excited to talk with me about the economic importance to helping end diseases like malaria and polio. He understands the importance to help the world’s poor so they can flourish and become consumers of American products.
A day after Governor Nikki Haley endorsed Gov. Mitt Romney on national television, both participated in Congressman Tim Scott’s Townhall series on Saturday in Charleston.
ONE volunteer Caleb attended the townhall Saturday morning, where more than 300 people turned out to hear Gov. Romney speak about the issues leading up to the primaries.
Caleb was able to speak with Gov. Romney, and encouraged him to support foreign aid through these tough economic times, citing how initiatives like PEPFAR and PMI have helped save millions of lives and are fostering future markets for American goods.
Caleb says Gov. Romney was very responsive to these issues, and acknowledged the friendly encounters with all ONE volunteers across Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina.
As we get closer to the South Carolina primaries, the candidates are flocking here for a little sunshine and warmth.
Last weekend, Gov. Jon Huntsman attended the Berkeley County GOP breakfast down in Charleston, and I was able to talk with him at length about the economic impact foreign aid will have for American jobs.
He was very engaged, understanding the importance of aid for life-saving drugs for HIV/AIDS, polio and malaria.
He even agreed that with these life-saving drugs comes a new market for American companies to export their goods as the world’s poor come out of poverty and have a better future.
ONE is campaigning to ensure that the Congressional budget does not cut foreign assistance programs like Feed the Future that help people break the cycle of poverty and hunger.
The Horn of Africa is experiencing its worst drought in 60 years. More than 11 million people, mostly nomadic pastoralists and farmers in south-central Somalia, north-eastern Kenya, and south-eastern Ethiopia, are severely lacking access to food.
2011 marks 30 years since the first cases of AIDS were documented. Take a closer look at the specific, achievable goals we must hit by 2015 to make this year the beginning of the end of AIDS.
As aid agencies warn more than 9 million people could be affected by a food crisis in East Africa, world leaders are failing to keep their 2009 promises to tackle the causes of chronic hunger and support farmers in the world's poorest countries.
