January 7th, 2008 at 11:59 am | posted by Matthew Bartlett, ONE Regional Organizer
All year long here in NH, we have been organizing and hitting the campaign trail for the poorest of people on Earth. We are here to celebrate US efforts to save lives, and encourage further leadership to make sure the next president of the United States is a leader in the fight against global disease and extreme poverty!
We have had hundreds of candidate engagements with all of the campaigns - and have made incredible progress that you can check out our “On the Record” microsite.
Never before have so many people raised their voices here in New Hampshire for those who live in desperate places on less than a dollar a day - stupid extreme poverty.
But we are not letting up yet….tomorrow is Primary Day and already so much has happened its hard to keep track, but I will try to throw up some posts from the past few days and still keep updated with what is happening.
I just gave some ONE shirts to MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough who I spoke with on Friday. He always talks about US efforts to fight AIDS in Africa and even had Michael Gerson on the other day.
When Gov. Richardson saw me and some ONE members in the hotel lobby, he yelled out, “ONE”! from the second floor balcony. We even have seen a few bloggers running around the Granite State in their ONE shirts!
This morning, Gov. Richardson made a campaign stop in Concord to meet with voters and sign copies of his new book. I went with ONE member James Leon on behalf of the poorest of the poor and to make sure that Gov. Richardson knows that Granite State voters care about saving lives in Africa.
James, a retired teacher from Concord, always wears his ONE pin - at the NH debates, different political events, and when meeting candidates - as a small way to show his support for the ONE Campaign.
We made our way to Gov. Richardson’s table where he immediately recognized our ONE pins. “ONE!”, he yelled out. “I love you guys”. I was able to briefly talk with Gov. Richardson and he agreed that our nation should lead the way to stop deaths from malaria. He even signed my book, “To Matthew, the ONE man”.
You do not have to be an expert to use your voice for the poorest people. It doesn’t cost anything to speak up for the world’s bottom billion. All you have to do is care, and find a way to make your voice heard. From writing a letter to the editor, to tabling at public events, to speaking with the candidates, to wearing a ONE band or ONE pin - we have the ability to let our leaders know that the United States should make a great effort to save lives and lift millions out of extreme poverty in Africa and the world’s poorest countries.
Even in New Hampshire it can be a tough job to get a few minutes to speak with the candidates. It is a lot tougher to get those few moments on tape.
But when there is a tough job, you send in the marines, and that is just what Michael Castaldo did this weekend on behalf of the poorest people in the world.
October 22nd, 2007 at 9:31 am | posted by Josh Lozman
Bill Richardson gave all of us something to be happy with during his speech in Iowa this past week. In his speech, titled, “Facing Down the Threats of the 21st century,” Richardson presented his plans to combat global disease and extreme poverty.
Governor Richardson stated his commitment to double foreign assistance funding to 2% of the federal budget. Though that is a rather abstract number to many, including me, it represents billions of dollars in new money to better the lives of the world’s poor. This year, our total federal budget was approximately $3 trillion dollars, so that means 2% would be approximately $60 billion dollars. Though the budget for this year is not completed (the president and Congress are supposed to get this done by October 1 each year, but it hasn’t happened in the past few years), we expect foreign assistance funding to be about $29 billion.
Governor Richardson mentioned several issues – human trafficking, refugee crises, hunger, debt relief, microfinance, and the importance of the World Bank – that we have not heard much about during this campaign. Governor Richardson also recognized the importance of continued and increased medical research for the treatment and cure of the world’s biggest killers including AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, cancer and heart disease.
Just last week, we got word of a new malaria vaccine that was effective in 45% of children one to four years old. Though this clearly isn’t a perfect vaccine, when nearly a million African children are dying every year of this disease, keeping 45% alive is a good start. The United States is the most innovative country in the world – we have to find solutions to these killer diseases. We thank the Governor for presenting his plans on these issues.
All in all, a great week for ONE with Senator Brownback and Governor Richardson speaking out on these critical issues.
WASHINGTON (CNN) – New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson will outline what his presidential campaign is describing as a “21st Century Marshall Plan,” to address several issues facing the nation and the international community.
Specifically, Richardson’s campaign said he will talk on Thursday about climate change, pandemic diseases and refugee crises and “will call for doubling our foreign development assistance to 2% of our federal budget.”
“These are not just the problems of individual nations,” Richardson will say in the speech, according to excerpts provided by his campaign. “They are the problems of an independent world. We are the most powerful nation in the history of the world. Yet, we are not immune from such threats. It will take vigilance and bold action now, to preserve our safety for the future.”
Last night Gov. Bill Richardson spoke at the Latino Summit Meeting at Southern New Hampshire University. I decided to go with ONE member Josh to see Gov. Richardson’s address.
We stood in the balcony as Gov. Richardson spoke about shifting US foreign policy and priority to the “poorest of the poor”, he spoke about clean water and education efforts in Latin America. He went on to talk about micro lending and the work of Muhammad Yunas and the Grameen Bank, and explained to the audience how Yunas won the Peace Prize for helping to provide small loans directly to people in the developing world.
After his speech, he took questions from the crowd and one of the first questions was from Guy, an exchange student that attends SNHU. Guy asked Gov. Richardson what type of relations the US would have with Africa if he were elected president. Gov. Richardson talked about expanding funds to fight AIDS, and would propose funds for healthcare and education to fight extreme poverty. He said that Africa would be a priority in his administration and that the US would devote ample resources.
As Gov. Richardson left the event, I was able to speak with him briefly and I gave him a custom made ONE band especially for him. Because Gov. Richardson has such large hands and wrists, he has told me in the past that the ONE bands do not fit him that well, so I cut two ONE bands in half and connected them to create a larger ONE band. He laughed and put it on immediately and told me how much he supports and believes in the ONE Campaign. I thanked him for speaking about the world’s poorest people and told him to keep it up.
Gov. Richardson has a few more campaign stops in New Hampshire, and I am quite sure he will run into more ONE members today!
September 11th, 2007 at 2:28 pm | posted by Virginia Simmons
Bill Richardson spent the day campaigning in Las Vegas on Saturday. He made stops at the Cark County Democrats Club meeting and opened a new office in East Las Vegas.
During both events, Governor Richardson commented on the need to fight extreme poverty and global disease, and thanked The ONE Campaign for leading this fight and attending his office opening.
Megan Jones was able to ask Governor Richardson about how the trade agreements under his Marshall plan would help in the fight against global poverty. See his response in the video attached:
September 6th, 2007 at 12:20 pm | posted by Virginia Simmons
“We won’t forget about Africa.”
Governor Bill Richardson made this promise at a campaign stop in Florence, South Carolina, yesterday. The presidential hopeful also thanked the ONE Campaign for coming to his event and encouraged members of the audience to speak to us and find out more about ONE, which they did.
Richardson also told the crowd “the ONE Campaign wants to push the idea that America needs to lead the way in so many ways.” He continued to wear the band we gave him for the entire event and proudly showed it to everyone in the room.
His Political Director in South Carolina, James Dukes, also came to the event wearing his white band. We thanked Governor Richardson for supporting ONE and making Africa a focus of his political platform.
Sunday morning in New Hampshire, and I went to the Red Arrow Dinner in Manchester to catch up with Gov. Richardson with some ONE members.
Melissa Skinner was able to speak with Gov. Richardson about her recent trip to Namibia and thank him for talking about the need for the US to fight global AIDS and extreme poverty throughout the continent of Africa.
Gov. Richardson was very enthusiastic about ONE but told us that the ONE band was too small for his wrist. He stretched it out and put it on anyway before he headed off.
ONE member Ben who happened to be going to get some morning pancakes, thanked him for his efforts in Darfur.
Later in the day, ONE’s Marine Michael and ONE member Maria Gonzales caught up with Gov. Richardson in Dover. They told me that Gov. Richardson spoke all about the ONE Campaign and urged people to get involved. He said that Africa should be a priority in America’s foreign policy.
Gov. Bill Richardson was in New Hampshire on Sunday and made a stop at a Nashua Multicultural Street Fair. I caught up with him with ONE member Brandon Laws.
You may remember Brandon from a McCain post a while ago when he spoke with the senator about the need to fight AIDS and poverty in Africa. Brandon is a long time ONE member and even attended the 2006 Stand-Up event in Manchester. Not only is Brandon a ONE Campaign volunteer, but he is now volunteering for Gov. Richardson’s presidential campaign.
When Gov. Richardson saw my shirt, he yelled out to me “Africa! Poverty! AIDS! ONE Campaign!” Brandon and I were able to thank him for his efforts on the ground in the Sudan and for making sure that Africa was one of his top priorities in his own campaign.
Later in the day, ONE member James Leon attended a house party with Gov. Richardson and gave him a ONE band. Jim said that he instantly recognized it and Jim laughingly told him “Don’t let me catch you not wearing your ONE band”!
No matter which candidate, no matter what party, no matter what setting - ONE Vote ‘08 is there to give voice to the poorest people in the world and make sure the next president is taking action to save lives in Africa.
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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.
We have had hundreds of candidate engagements with all of the campaigns - and have made incredible progress that you can check out our “On the Record” microsite.
