Tomorrow

As you you know, tomorrow is the 2008 US presidential election. With millions of citizens—and a ton of ONE members amongst them—heading to the polls in a matter of hours, we wanted to remind you that both presidential candidates have gone On The Record for the ONE Campaign, and told us in great detail what they plan to do to fight extreme global poverty.

Take a minute to check out their statements and happy voting!

-Chris Scott

Petition Drop-Off in PA

With less than a week before Election Day, ONE volunteer Dan Donmoyer and I joined volunteers across the country in dropping off petitions at various state offices. We stopped by both the Obama and McCain headquarters in Harrisburg, PA to help remind both presidential candidates of the commitments they made to help the world’s poorest people when they went On the Record with the ONE Campaign.

During these times of economic instability in both domestic and global markets, we must not forget about the world’s poorest people who are especially vulnerable during times of economic hardship. We should continue to support smart, affordable initiatives that are making a real difference for millions around the world.

This month over 68,832 ONE Members nationwide and 2,849 in Pennsylvania, signed a petition asking that:

As you work to find a solution to the global financial crisis, please do not waver in your support for the world’s poorest people. It is now more important than ever to stand up for effective, efficient solutions that save millions of lives, strengthen the global economy, and win the hearts and minds of people around the world. I’m keeping my commitment to fight global poverty, and I ask you to do the same.

Even when we face challenges here at home, we must continue to lead, work to strengthen America’s global reputation, and make our world a safer and better place.

-Brian Sweeney

Final Report: McCain’s and Obama’s Plans

I want to share ONE’s ‘Final Report’ on Senator McCain’s and Senator Obama’s public commitments to address global poverty.

When you go to our On The Record microsite today, you can see McCain’s and Obama’s most up-to-date plans side-by-side. While you’re there, make sure to check out our exclusive video interviews with John McCain and Barack Obama.

ONE is a nonpartisan organization that does not endorse or oppose any candidate, but we do want you to know where the candidates stand as you go to the polls on Tuesday.

-Virginia Simmons

As Election Day Nears, ONE Gets Fired Up

South Florida ONE volunteers were hot on the campaign trail yesterday, representing ONE at back-to-back rallies for Senator John McCain and Senator Barack Obama.

In the morning we went to the Everglades Lumberyard in Miami to hear Senator McCain speak. He was accompanied by fellow Republicans Governor Charlie Crist, Representatives Mario Diaz-Balart and Lincoln Diaz-Balart and Florida’s former Governor and current ONE Vote ’08 Co-Chair, Jeb Bush.

Just a few hours later Senators Obama and Biden held a campaign rally at the Bank Atlantic Center in Fort Lauderdale. Just when we thought we were not going to be able to get in, the security guards let us through and we found great seats just behind the stage.

With the election right around the corner, ONE volunteers are working harder than ever to maintain their strong presence on the campaign trail in Florida and to show the candidates that regardless of party affiliation, fighting global disease and extreme poverty must be a priority in the next administration.

-Sara Paterni

Obama and McCain’s Plans

Foreign policy advisors to Sens. Obama and McCain lay out both candidates’ policy objectives for Africa in two separate articles posted on allAfrica.com. The articles are excerpted from remarks made at a recent National Press Club Forum, “U.S.-Africa Policy Agenda and the Next Administration.”

Check ‘em out:

• Obama’s Three Objectives for Continent, by Witney W. Schneidman, an adviser on Africa to Obama
• McCain’s Vision for Freedom, Peace and Prosperity, by J. Peter Pham, a foreign policy and national security advisor

-Steve Wilson

ONE’s New Ad

ONE’s new TV ad - set to air on cable nationally surrounding the upcoming president debates.

Our petition, asking debate moderator Jim Lehrer to ask “Just ONE Question” about extreme poverty now has 107.905 signatures. We’ll keep delivering new signatures as they come in, so sign on if you haven’t already.

-Virginia Simmons

Obama Talks Global Poverty to CGI

Senator Obama just addressed the Clinton Global Initiative via a live satellite feed and spoke of his commitment to embrace the Millennium Development Goals, “erase” the global education gap, and advance global health.

Below, an excerpt and video from his remarks.

(Senator McCain spoke at CGI a couple of hours ago, and we covered it here.)

We all have a stake in reducing poverty. There is suffering across the globe that doesn’t need to be tolerated in the 21st century. And it leads to pockets of instability that provide fertile breeding grounds for threats like terror and the smuggling of deadly weapons that cannot be contained by the drawing of a border or the distance of an ocean. These aren’t simply disconnected corners of an interconnected world. That is why the second commitment that I will make is embracing the Millennium Development Goals, which aim to cut extreme poverty in half by 2015.

This will take more resources from the United States, and as President I will increase our foreign assistance to provide them. But resources must be focused on the right priorities. No one wants to put good money after bad, or ignore the underlying causes at the root of these problems.

We shouldn’t just settle for a status quo – anywhere – where you can’t start a business without paying a bribe. Corruption wastes our tax dollars. It also ruins lives. This is a human rights issue, and we need to treat it like one.

We shouldn’t help those in need without helping them help themselves. That’s why I’ll partner with the private sector in creating a new fund for Small and Medium Enterprise, so we’re investing in ideas that can create growth and jobs in the developing world.

Above all, we must do our part to see that all children have the basic right to learn. There is nothing more disappointing than a child denied the hope that comes with going to school, and there is nothing more dangerous than a child who is taught to distrust and then to destroy.

That’s why the third commitment I’ll make is working to erase the global primary education gap by 2015. Every child – every boy, and every girl – should have the ability to go to school. To ensure that our nation does its part to meet that goal, we need to establish a two billion dollar Global Education Fund. And I look forward to signing the bipartisan Education for All Act that was first introduced by Hillary Clinton – a true champion for children.

Finally, we must continue the progress that’s been made to advance the cause of global health. I’ve been proud to support the PEPFAR program. I think (more…)

ONE meets Obama in (O)NEvada

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

On the trail with Senator Obama, Part 1

Sen. Obama was in New Hampshire this weekend and so was our giant ONE Bus! We met up with him Friday night in Concord, NH at a campaign rally.

Although it was raining, we spoke with many people in line about ONE and our non-partisan effort to fight AIDS and extreme poverty in the developing world. Almost everyone had heard or seen ONE through the NH Primary and our new ad.

Before Sen. Obama came out, NH Rep. Paul Hodes made his way through the crowd and we were able to thank him for voting for the new global AIDS bill, PEPFAR, that smashed its way through the US House with great bi-partisan support.

Sen. Obama finally made his way to the stage and gave his stump speech. He could clearly see our ONE shirts and ONE bands throughout the crowd. Afterward, he shook hands and we were able to briefly thank him for voting for PEPFAR and for talking about PEPFAR at the Service Forum in NYC the night before. You can see a quick clip of him with us in the crowd here:

We were not able to give Sen. Obama a ONE band, but his aide, Reggie Love, came back and grabbed one for him. And as we were leaving, Sen. Obama’s bus pulled away and he our ONE bus a big wave!

-Matthew Bartlett, ONE Regional Organizer

Obama Talks Africa on Letterman

Last night on David Letterman’s show, Senator Obama talked about:

• His trip to Kenya two years ago, where he and Michelle took public AIDS tests in the hopes of helping to reduce the social stigma around AIDS testing in Africa.
• The energetic and optimistic spirit of Africans, and positive success stories like those out of Rwanda
• The importance of good governance and of holding countries’ governments accountable.

Check it all out in the video clip. I also transcribed the Africa-related highlights below.

TRANSCRIPT:

Letterman: “Do you ever think of going to Kenya as President of the United States?”

Obama: “You know I do think about that. I went there a couple years ago after I had been elected senator. And you know it was moving for me to see people’s response. Sometimes we forget how people overseas look at America. They place so much hope in the United States and that’s something I think we’ve forgotten because we always hear bad news about how people don’t like Americans anymore and that’s not true. They’re disappointed precisely because they’ve got high expectations. And obviously given that my father’s from Kenya there’s a special connection. So we were just seeing these enormous crowds everywhere. I went up to the village where my grandma lives and folks were lining the roads for miles.

And we took an AIDS test because the CDC, which is doing great work–this is something that George Bush has done well, is work on AIDS issues in Africa. He has made a serious commitment to it and I give him credit for it — but the CDC that’s working over there, they asked Michelle and I to take a test because they said that just the act of you as a married couple taking the test, potentially a million people will see it, and you could save thousands of lives just by people getting tested…”

Letterman: “…Rarely do you hear positive stories coming out of Africa, to the point where you can create the impression that the continent could be lost. And you mentioned George Bush actually providing medical care and food and funding and so forth. Is it a lost cause? Is that a false impression?”

Obama: “You know it is. We tend to focus on the negative. And when you go there, first of all what you realize is the people there are more energetic and optimistic than you would ever imagine. In fact there’s been some surveys done showing that Africans are surprisingly happy and positive about the future, and there are a lot of good things going on. You go to a place like Rwanda that suffered such brutality and now it is thriving, it is growing. President Bill Clinton has done some great work in working to help to foster economic development and other efforts in those areas, Bill Gates’ foundation has done some good work, so it makes a difference. But what is true is that we’ve got to have better governance in Africa.

Sometimes we spend so much time running down government that we forget what it means, how important is it to have a functioning government: One that can deliver services; One that if you want to get a telephone, you don’t have to pay a bribe; If you want to start a business, you don’t have to give a cut to somebody. All that makes an enormous difference and hopefully we can hold governments there more accountable so that their people actually have a chance.”

Letterman: “Is there a way for this country to do that without pushing people around and being resented?”

Obama: “I think if we can send a signal, and this is true whether it’s in Africa or the Middle East or anywhere in the world, if we say we want to be a partner with you, we respect you, but if you’re getting our help, then we’ve got certain expectations that we’re not just helping the wealthy, or the people who are going to send the money to Swiss bank accounts, we expect to actually see results on the ground. Just holding people accountable, but doing it in a respectful way, I think that could make a big difference.