ONE members were upfront for presidential candidate Governor Bill Richardson’s Saturday’s speech in Belvedere Lake Park, CA, in front of hundreds of southern Californians.
At the event, I shook the governor’s hand and talked to him about ONE. He was well aware of us and the strides ONE has made making Americans aware of extreme poverty and global AIDS. He told me: “We need to do more for Africa. We don’t do enough for Africa.”
Richardson traveled to Africa in January and shares his opinions on what should be done in the Sudan on his site.
New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson made a campaign stop at a general store in Hooksett, NH, today. I was there with a group of ONE members to thank the governor and urge him to keep talking about what our nation should be doing to fight AIDS and poverty in Africa.
Before his speech, Governor Richardson spoke with us about his comments on making African issues an U.S. policy priority during the April 26 Democratic presidential debate, and he immediately put on the ONE band we offered him.
Then Governor Richardson gave a short stump speech on the steps of the general store. In his speech, he held up his wrist and showed the crowd his ONE band. He explained to everyone that the ONE Campaign stood for our country fighting AIDS and poverty in Africa. He even spoke about the deplorable situation in Darfur. Gov. Richardson said that the ONE Campaign’s mission reflects American values and is important to show in our foreign policy.
We are making sure that all candidates from both parties hear from the ONE Campaign when they come to New Hampshire, but it was an amazing moment to have a candidate for the president of the United States talk specifically about the ONE Campaign and our grassroots movement of Americans that are working to make extreme poverty history.
At a meeting of the “National Action Network,” a civil rights organization founded by Rev. Al Sharpton, New Mexico Governor and 2008 presidential candidate Bill Richardson said that if elected president he’d make Africa a major policy priority.
As quoted in a Thursday’s AP article, the governor said:
“Somehow it’s not considered by American policymakers to have the importance it deserves… Issues related to AIDS, refugees, issues related to governance, international poverty — somehow this continent is forgotten.”
Read the full AP article here.
