ONE Vote Organizer Charlie Harris reports from the Florida primary.
In my last post, I showed you some of the really cool things that can happen in a day in the life of a ONE Vote organizer. But sometimes, things don’t always go as planned. Such has been the case for my recent exploits down here in the Sunshine State in the build up to the primary. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not going to complain about being near the beach, but patience is definitely a virtue on the campaign trail.
Thursday, I made the two-hour trek down to Pensacola, Fla., from where I am staying with family in Panama City Beach. As soon as I arrived at what was to be an event with presidential candidate Sen. Rick Santorum, a torrential downpour made the event soggy and unpleasant for someone who forgot their umbrella. But luckily, I had a cool ONE hoodie nearby (shameless ONE Store plug, check them out). To my dismay, the crowd gathered was told that Senator Santorum couldn’t land due to the severe weather threat, and thus I trudged back to my car for what was not looking like a fun ride back. But when life gives you severe weather that makes road conditions hazardous, get FroYo until the storm passes!
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 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.
In case you missed it, Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum issued a quick statement on World AIDS Day last Thursday. Celebrating the success of PEPFAR and funding that has – and will continue to – save millions of lives in Africa, it is great to see his support for the fight against HIV and his call to action for the beginning of the end of AIDS.
Take a look at his full statement here:
“There is reason to celebrate today that over 4 million people with AIDS in Africa are on antiviral drugs as a result of the US commitments through PEPFAR and other partnerships. There is reason to set our resolve, as almost 5,000 people die every day due to AIDS and there are about 7,000 new HIV infections a day. Thankfully, there is reason to hope that in our lifetime, we may see the end of AIDS. Let’s turn our
resolve into action.”
Everyone, please welcome Laurie Moskowitz, ONE’s senior director of US campaigns, to the ONE Blog. We’re excited to have her on board!
The GOP presidential candidates debated foreign policy again last night, this time against the backdrop of the DAR Constitution Hall in Washington, DC. We were pleased to see some of ONE’s issues addressed, with a question about continuing funding of development assistance.
A group of ONE Vote 2012 volunteers braved the chilly rain to greet the GOP candidates outside the CNN debate tonight. Decked out in our ONE shirts and armed with posters, we caught the attention of the candidates as their vehicles inched their way through security. Newt Gingrich’s wife even waved at us!
ONE members wave signs in front of the DAR Constitution Hall, where the CNN Debate took place.
What could be more fun than hitting up a parade on Labor Day with an awesome group of ONE volunteers? I had the privilege of organizing a group of seven ONE members who spent the day at the Labor Day Festival in Chapin, South Carolina. We were all decked out in our ONE gear and were definitely turning heads as we walked in our pack around Chapin.
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.
