On Thursday afternoon, I was enjoying a lobster roll with a friend at Brown’s Lobster Pool in Seabrook, New Hampshire when my phone alerted me that Governor Sarah Palin was at a private residence around the corner attending a clam bake.

We drove over to the residence, where I was able to chat with her briefly before she entered the house party. We talked a little about her last trip to New Hampshire during the 2008 election cycle and then she asked what I was working on these days. I told her all about the ONE Campaign and how we work to save millions of lives in places like Africa. She was familiar with ONE and our causes, she told me that Franklin Graham (a mutual friend with Bono) had told her all about the work we’re doing. They even went on a humanitarian trip to Haiti to look at the devastation from the earthquake last year.

It was great to get the world’s poorest and most desperate people back on Governor Palin’s radar screen. You could tell she had a great appreciation for the job we’re doing and the severity of the situation in developing countries. She told us to keep up the great work!

In addition to signing on this important piece of legislation introduced by Senator Richard Durbin, Senator Lieberman has a special message for ONE members which I’ve included below. We’ll continue to keep you posted on mounting momentum and new developments for the Water for the World Act, which you can ask your senators to support here.

Below is the message from Senator Lieberman and a list of current Water for the World cosponsors. Thanks for all your hard work!

Ask your senator to sign on as a cosponsor for the bipartisan Water for the World Act, and don’t forget to share the petition with your friends.

And the list of 18 current cosponsors (2 more to go to reach our goal of 20!):

Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL)
Sen. Bob Corker, Bob (R-TN)
Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA)
Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME)
Sen. Roland Burris (D-IL)
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH)
Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-GA)
Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA)
Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI)
Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH)
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI)
Sen. Byron Dorgan D-ND)
Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA)
Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-CT)
Sen. Kit Bond (R-MO)
Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT)
Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD)
Sen. Bernard Sanders (I-VT)

-Chris Scott

A few days ago, ONE member Melissa Skinner was able to speak with CT Rep. Chris Shays as he campaigned for McCain. Many ONE members know Rep. Shays best for his his work during the 2007 CR to help save and secure over a billion dollars of life-saving, poverty-reducing funds. When Melissa thanked him, the congressman immediately put on a ONE band and said that he was very familiar with the campaign.

And this morning, I was able to speak briefly with Sen. Lieberman after he gave an interview for McCain in Concord. He immediately knew what ONE was and told me that we have done a remarkable job pointing out the problems of AIDS and poverty in Africa to America – and that he is proud to see that America has responded.

I told him that Sen. McCain points out ONE in his crowds all the time and he told me that is because Senator McCain truly believes in our work and that it is not political posturing. I thanked Sen. Lieberman and he gladly accepted a ONE band.

-Matthew Bartlett, ONE Regional Organizer