May 6th, 2008 at 10:28 am | posted by Kim Smith, ONE Regional Field Organizer
In the days leading up to the Indiana primary, candidates were making appearances across the state - and last Thursday when Senator Hillary Clinton made a stop in Jeffersonville, ONE was there!
When Robert F. Kennedy Jr. introduced the senator to the over one thousand Indianans at the event, he said that one of the reasons why America is great is that we not only help our own people, but we also help people around the world.
After Senator Hillary Clinton spoke to a crowd in the Jeffersonville High School Gym, she stayed afterward to sign autographs, take pictures, and speak to people - including me.
As Hillary worked her way through the crowd and got to me, I thanked her for going “On the Record” with ONE to lay out her plan to combat global poverty. She took a break from signing an autograph and looked up to say, “Thank you for saying that.”
All the candidates have gone “On the Record” for ONE to lay out their plans for fighting extreme poverty around the world, so if you haven’t checked them out yet, you can see on ONE’s “On The Record” minisite. The Education for All Act’s lead sponsor is Senator Hillary Clinton and if passed it would increase U.S funding for universal primary education and help get over 77 million new children around the world in school.
Yesterday afternoon Sen. John McCain came back to Iowa for a townhall in Des Moines; it was his first time in the state since he’s clinched the Republican Party nomination.
I attended the 500+ person event with follow ONE volunteers to make sure that Sen. McCain remembered ONE and the fight to end extreme poverty during the general campaign. Shortly after taking the stage Sen. McCain recognized the many people in the crowd wearing ONE T-shirts, and asked me to stand up. I was already seated on the stage behind him, so I was facing the crowd. Sen. McCain spoke about the ONE Campaign and why he supports what we do. He then handed the microphone over and asked me to speak a little about ONE.
First, I thanked Sen. McCain for his sharing his plans for fighting malaria last week. (All the candidates released statements) and I explained ONE’s non-partisan efforts to educate and raise awareness about extreme poverty around the globe to the hundreds of Iowans at the event.
April 28th, 2008 at 5:40 pm | posted by Virginia Simmons
Vote here to send ONE super volunteer Michael Castaldo - or ONE’s Marine - to the 2008 presidential conventions to advocate for ONE. (If he wins, this group will send Michael to the Republican and Democratic conventions.)
Wednesday night Senators Clinton and Obama engaged in their first debate in weeks. While they were inside the National Constitution Center discussing their plans for the country, ONE was outside making sure someone was speaking up for all those suffering from extreme poverty around the world. We were out there handing out literature, speaking with Clinton and Obama supporters, giving a voice to those who so often lack one. It was an amazing sight, being part of a crowd of hundreds of supporters, protesters, and activists. The campaign trail is hot here in Pennsylvania and we’re keeping the heat on the candidates about their commitments to fight global poverty.
-Tyler Bond, ONE Vote ’08 organizer, Philadelphia, PA
Sunday night’s Compassion Forum, hosted by Messiah College in Grantham, PA, brought Senators Obama and Clinton together. The event was put on by Faith In Public Life and sponsored by ONE and Oxfam America. Although he was invited, Senator McCain did not attend the forum.
With a question and answer format, moderated by Newsweek’s John Meacham and CNN’s Campbell Brown, questions ranged from the role of religion in public life to those about AIDS in Uganda and federal funding for poverty relief.
Questions were also taken from religious leaders in the audience. Reverend William J. Shaw, of the National Baptist Convention asked Senator Clinton how her administration would deal with the difficulties of providing poor people in “developing countries” with “inexpensive, generic drugs for the treatment of AIDS and other sicknesses.”
Clinton said, “I believe that our government must do so much more to get generic drugs and low-cost drugs to people suffering…not only from HIV/AIDS, but the range of diseases that affect disproportionately the poor…” Clinton went on to commend PEPFAR, calling it “a very bold and important commitment, but it didn’t go far enough in opening up the door to generics and getting the costs down.”
To work toward solutions to these and other problems, citing lack of education, malaria, and TB among them, Clinton said, “I want us to have a partnership, government to government, government with the private sector, government with our NGOS and our faith community to show the best of what America has to offer.”
Senator Obama was questioned by religious leaders as well. Frank Page, of the Southern Baptist Convention, questioned Senator Obama about faith and abstinance-based AIDS prevention programs in Uganda. In his answer, Senator Obama also complimented the PEPFAR program as “one of the success stories of this administration. We’ve seen a drastic increase in funding. And terrific work is being done between the CDC, the NIH, local AIDS organizations, NGOs.”
Obama said that as president, he would “use whatever the best approaches are, the scientifically sound approaches are, to reduce this devastating disease all across the world…” and would seek to “make antiviral drugs available to people who are in extreme poverty.”
April 10th, 2008 at 8:56 pm | posted by Virginia Simmons
Bono was just on Idol GIves Back encouraging everyone to sign up at ONE.org, saying: “Tonight, save a life. Tomorrow, change the world.”
After, the three current presidential candidates spoke about the importance of fighting poverty. In December, ONE members sent tens of thousands of petitions and got all the candidates to go on the record with their plans to combat global poverty.
April 8th, 2008 at 7:01 pm | posted by Virginia Simmons
ONE Vote ‘08 has sent field staff to key swing states to raise the issue of global poverty at the candidates’ events leading up to the election. Below posts from Tyler in Pennsylvania and Jedidiah in Florida.
Well, I just landed here in Pennsylvania and I’ve already hit the ground running. On April 4, a panel of Senator Obama’s senior foreign policy advisors met at the University of Pennsylvania to discuss Senator Obama’s positions on foreign affairs. While many of the questions focused on the War in Iraq, relations with China, Russia, and Pakistan, and the tension between international law and national security, one question did address issues of concern to ONE.
Dr. Susan Rice, a former assistant secretary of state for African affairs, responded to a question on economic development and combating major disease in Africa, especially in light of Senator Obama’s personal connections to the continent. She said America and the world had been “ill-served by relegating Africa to the back burner” because it is in our strategic and security interests to be involved on the continent. She said Senator Obama would pursue a more “holistic” approach, addressing “trans-national” security challenges, from terrorism and proliferation to disease and environmental degradation. She claims that one of Senator Obama¹s unique foreign policy insights was the recognition that “our national security depends on the security of people in every corner of the globe.” She said as president, Senator Obama would double foreign aid and would work to strengthen the healthcare infrastructure in developing countries.
-Tyler Bond, ONE Vote ‘08 field organizer, Pennsylvania
Friday was my first day and I had the job of going to a McCain roundtable event in Pensacola, Florida, and making sure the poorest in the world weren’t forgotten at the event.
At the event I was able to reach out to Republican leaders in the panhandle for the ONE Campaign and the global fight against extreme poverty. Clay Williams the Republican Field Staff for the Panhandle and Clay Ingram the Chairman of the Escambia County Republican Executive Committee received our platform well. I am excited to work with them in the future.
-Jedidiah Hall, ONE Vote ‘08 field organizer, Florida
Last week it was announced that MSNBC’s Hardball with Chris Matthews would kick off their College Tour on April 2 at my campus, West Chester University. I had already started a ONE student group on campus and realized that this presented a unique opportunity to advocate for the world’s poorest people.
So on Monday morning five of our group’s members headed out and waited over two hours in line. That might not have been that bad except it was pouring down rain the entire time! We were soggy but we were also excited because the Pennsylvania Primary is coming up, and all of the sudden the candidates are starting to come to town. I have been following ONE Vote ‘08 since this summer and now I can actually go let all the candidates, both Democrat and Republican, know how important it is for our next president to be a leader in the fight against extreme poverty.
Wednesday was the big day and we headed over to the school gym to wait in our second line of the week. Luckily, members of ONE West Chester University were able to get five tickets for Hardball. All the waiting paid off because we got great seats. You see we really wanted to sit in the front so that everyone would notice our ONE Vote ‘08 T-shirts, and we would have a better chance at being able to ask Senator Obama a question during the filming.
While we were not able to ask a question during Hardball it was still a great night for ONE in Pennsylvania! We were able to tell lots of people about ONE, Senator Obama waved to us as we pointed out the ONE Vote 08 logo on our shirts, and we were even able to briefly meet Chris Matthews. It was a great experience. Now we are keeping a look out for all the candidates so we can be there when they come to town.
We need your help too - if you see that a presidential candidate is coming to your town then head on out. How else would you be able to participate in the United States presidential race AND stand in support of people who live on less than a dollar a day around the world by just by throwing on a T-shirt?
March 27th, 2008 at 3:35 pm | posted by Josh.Lozman
Throughout this year’s presidential campaign, the three remaining candidates have all discussed their plans to fight malaria. Malaria is the largest killer of children of under 5 in Africa. Each year, the disease claims the lives of more than 1 million people globally each year and makes between 300 and 500 million extremely ill.
Yesterday, Senator John McCain reiterated his commitment to establish the goal of eradicating malaria at a speech at the LA World Affairs Council. Senator McCain had previously announced this in an article in Foreign Affairs.
Several months ago, Senator Hillary Clinton announced a plan to eliminate deaths on the continent on Africa at a speech at Rick Warren’s Saddleback Church. She committed to spend $1 billion per year towards this goal.
Senator Barack Obama has committed to doubling funding for the President’s Malaria Initiative as well as lift a cap on the United States contribution to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
Malaria is a disease that we know how to stop. Bed nets and indoor spraying of houses with insecticides coupled with prophylactic and curative treatments are all inexpensive and highly effective ways to prevent transmission of the disease and prevent severe illness or death in those that do get. The fight against malaria is primed for an increased fight and ONE is pleased that the presidential candidates have given it so much attention. ONE will continue encouraging the candidates to discuss their commitments on malaria and tackle other critical global development challenges.
The ONE Blog is a daily log of the anti-poverty movement. The site is operated by ONE staff, volunteers, members and coalition partners.
The content of each post and each comment represent the views of that author and does not necessarily reflect the views of the ONE Campaign or ONE Action. ONE does not support or oppose any candidate for elected office, and any posts expressing support or opposition for a candidate is not endorsed by ONE.
In the days leading up to the Indiana primary, candidates were making appearances across the state - and last Thursday when Senator Hillary Clinton made a stop in Jeffersonville, ONE was there! 
