An excerpt below, the full piece here.

Among the many questions before us then, and especially before the next president, is do we push forward with these bold, lifesaving initiatives and seize the opportunity to deliver a truly historic blow against hunger, disease and poverty? Or will our next president shrink back and not follow through on commitments to those suffering from poverty and disease?

These are uncertain times. All of us are faced with skyrocketing energy prices, a limping economy, two wars and threats from abroad. Yet the fight against extreme poverty and disease is not a zero-sum game, nor does it reside in a foreign policy vacuum, isolated from our efforts to combat terrorism or deal with unstable regimes.

We may differ on key aspects of our military engagement overseas, but we do agree that American generosity through foreign assistance, and the alleviation of poverty in volatile countries and regions is a form of “soft power” that we cannot afford to under fund.

Former Senators—and former political opponents—Rick Santorum (a Republican) and Harris Wofford (a Democrat) have signed on to serve as Pennsylvania ONE Vote ’08 co-chairs. As co-chairs, Sens. Santorum and Wofford will help lead ONE’s efforts here in Pennsylvania to showcase the opportunity the next president—whoever it is—has to make a lifesaving, game-changing difference in the fight against global poverty.

From Philly to Pittsburgh, I’ve already seen ONE’s message breaking through on the campaign trail. The candidates are fielding questions on how they, as president, will fight HIV/AIDS and malaria, help save the lives of babies and mothers from preventable diseases and work to put more children in school across Africa.

Now with Sens. Wofford and Santorum signed on, we are ready to turn up the volume on our efforts.

“I look forward to hearing from Senators McCain and Obama on how they intend to address these vital issues should they enter the White House,” Sen. Santorum told us.

Throughout their respective careers, Sens. Santorum and Wofford (although admittedly agreeing on little else) both shared a steadfast commitment to stepping up America’s efforts to alleviate global poverty and fight preventable diseases.

Sen. Santorum worked in the Senate to increase funding for global HIV/AIDS efforts, and, since leaving the Senate, has remained a vocal supporter of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). This April, Sen. Santorum wrote an op-ed urging his former Senate colleagues to support PEPFAR’s reauthorization, writing, “It offers hope instead of hopelessness. It shows the world our heart and that America is a blessing to the oppressed and suffering across the globe. And it needs reauthorizing now.”

Sen. Wofford has spent a career as a champion of health care and civil rights. Under President Kennedy, he helped organize the Peace Corps. Also during his time in the Kennedy administration, Sen. Wofford traveled to Ethiopia with his family to serve as the Peace Corps’ Special Representative to Africa. More recently, Sen. Wofford oversaw AmeriCorps and other national service programs under President Clinton.

As Sen. Wofford told us, it’s nice that we’ve found some common ground in here in PA:

“It’s good to be working with Senator Santorum again on a cause like the ONE Campaign where we do not need to search for common ground—it is here in Pennsylvania and across all America, in front of us, beyond party and partisanship, calling us to work together for our common humanity.”

-Chris Geer