Last night in Manchester, the New Hampshire Political Library held its annual awards dinner and among the honorees in attendance were former 2008 presidential candidate Gov. Mitt Romney and former 2000 presidential candidate Sen. Bill Bradley.

After the event, I was able to briefly speak with Gov. Romney who recognized me from his days on the campaign trail. I thanked him for his ideas about healthcare and education in developing countries and commented how in the closing days of the NH Primary, he would end his town halls by talking about the need to place regional coordinators in highly impoverished parts of the world to help with more aid and infrastructure and facilitate more trade. He graciously thanked me and ONE before heading out of the event.

In the lobby, I found myself next to Sen. Bradley and was able to offer him a ONE band while I explained that ONE is made up of more than 2.4 million Americans who want our country to better address the emergency crisis of global disease and extreme global poverty. I even mentioned to Sen. Bradley, who is supporting Sen. Obama, that at many town halls and speeches, Sen. Obama often talks about bigger and better US efforts to combat AIDS and malaria in Africa and help save lives of the poorest people on Earth.

Even though the NH Primary is over, ONE has made a lasting impression in helping to change the debate and shift political focus to the world’s poorest people. As we move to a general election, and at the same time advocate for the passage of PEPFAR in the Senate, it is your voice that is making the difference and making sure that our leaders put forward the resources to make extreme, stupid poverty history.

-Matthew Bartlett