May 1st, 2008 at 2:30 pm | posted by Matthew Bartlett, ONE Regional Organizer
Last night in Manchester, the New Hampshire Political Library held its annual awards dinner and among the honorees in attendance were former 2008 presidential candidate Gov. Mitt Romney and former 2000 presidential candidate Sen. Bill Bradley.
After the event, I was able to briefly speak with Gov. Romney who recognized me from his days on the campaign trail. I thanked him for his ideas about healthcare and education in developing countries and commented how in the closing days of the NH Primary, he would end his town halls by talking about the need to place regional coordinators in highly impoverished parts of the world to help with more aid and infrastructure and facilitate more trade. He graciously thanked me and ONE before heading out of the event.
In the lobby, I found myself next to Sen. Bradley and was able to offer him a ONE band while I explained that ONE is made up of more than 2.4 million Americans who want our country to better address the emergency crisis of global disease and extreme global poverty. I even mentioned to Sen. Bradley, who is supporting Sen. Obama, that at many town halls and speeches, Sen. Obama often talks about bigger and better US efforts to combat AIDS and malaria in Africa and help save lives of the poorest people on Earth.
Even though the NH Primary is over, ONE has made a lasting impression in helping to change the debate and shift political focus to the world’s poorest people. As we move to a general election, and at the same time advocate for the passage of PEPFAR in the Senate, it is your voice that is making the difference and making sure that our leaders put forward the resources to make extreme, stupid poverty history.
On the campaign trail here in Florida we caught up with Governors Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney. We saw Mitt in downtown Orlando on a stop along the trail. After his speech we approached the governor and commended him for talking about his plans to combat global poverty.
After the meeting with Governor Romney we caught word that Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee was having an impromptu press conference at the airport. ONE members were able to chat with the governor and thanked him for his support. Gov. Huckabee was nice enough to take a photo with us before jumping in an SUV and heading off to his next stop. Ready, set, all GOP eyes on Florida!
Gov. Mitt Romney was campaigning here in the Granite State right after Christmas. ONE’s Marine, Michael Castaldo and I caught up with him at Robie’s General Store in Hooksett, to make sure that he remembers the poorest of the poor.
When Gov. Romney walked into the crowed store, he immediately recognized us with our shirts and pins, and told us that “it is good to see ONE again”, in front of the crowd! Michael quietly snuck outside by his waiting car and asked if he could get a few moments of video with the Governor. Check it out:
As we near Primary Day - Jan. 8th - here in New Hampshire, ONE is hot on the campaign trail to make sure that the next president of the United States knows that fighting global disease and saving lives in Africa is not only possible in today’s world…it is a priority.
Monday night Gov. Romney held a town hall meeting in Manchester and I attended with some ONE members to lend our voices for the poorest people on earth.
The last question of the night was posed from a NH student who asked what Gov. Romney would do to restore America’s image in the world. Gov. Romney spoke about a few different issues, and then he went into length about US efforts to fight AIDS and poverty in Africa, and other basic healthcare and education in desperate places.
Gov. Romney told the audience that he would place US regional coordinators all around the world, with what he said was a “sizeable budget” to help with things like health clinics. This is when we caught the final footage of his speech:
Afterward, I was able to thank Gov. Romney for going “On the Record” and for sharing his plans to fight extreme poverty.
On Sunday, Gov. Mitt Romney made a campaign stop at a toy store in Concord, NH. Keene State college student and Concord resident Kevin Schmidt came out to lend his voice to the world’s poorest people.
As Gov. Romney made his way through the toy store, Kevin spoke with him about the ONE Campaign. He thanked Gov. Romney for his ideas about saving lives in Africa. Gov. Romney thanked him, and Kevin told him about his Uncle Ken Hackett who is the President and CEO of Catholic Relief services and serves on the board of the Millennium Challenge Corporate with ONE Vote ‘08 chair Sen. Frist. Kevin told him about all of the good work that the MCC was doing and urged him, if elected, to support the MCC.
Gov. Romney seemed very familiar with the work of the MCC and posed for a picture. You can even see the stuffed animal monkey that Gov. Romney’s grandson Parker Mitt picked out.
ONE by ONE, we are making progress with all of the candidates. By staying informed at ONE.org, we can use our voice to articulate the change we want to see in the world, save lives, and lift millions out of stupid extreme poverty.
Gov. Mitt Romney and his whole family made it down to the Nashua Winter Holiday Stroll on Saturday night. While holding his grandson Parker Mitt Romney, Gov. Romney shook hands and spoke with NH voters.
After talking with Mayor Rudy Giuliani moments earlier, ONE member Brandon Laws was not done yet and he and his friends made their way through the crowd to speak with Gov. Romney directly too. Brandon told him that he was a member of the ONE Campaign and thanked him for his ideas about reaching out to marginalized countries and expanding basic primary education in Africa. Gov. Romney thanked him and posed for a photo while still holding Parker Mitt.
It may have been a cold night, but ONE members braved the weather to come out and show support for the ONE Campaign and the world’s poorest people.
November 20th, 2007 at 11:58 am | posted by Aaron.Banks
Nevada ONE member Robin Mercer delivered 50,000+ petitions asking Governor Mitt Romney to go on the record and tell us exactly where he stands on fighting extreme poverty and global disease. Will he - and the other presidential candidates - take up the challenge?
Stay tuned.
Update: UNR ONE Club President Tracey Gaffney and club member Adam Allen just presented John Edwards with “On the Record” petitions, too.
The ONE Vote ‘08, South Carolina, Staff finally had an opportunity to meet with presidential hopeful, Governor Mitt Romney. He came to Columbia, SC, to host an open forum event.
We were not afforded an opportunity to ask a question publicly. However, after the event we were able to catch up with the governor. We thanked him for his kind words towards our Campaign across the country.
He responded, “Ah, yes, the ONE Campaign. Great group.”
We also were able to get a photo with Governor Romney. We told him we look forward to his next visit to South Carolina and that he can expect to see us at his future SC stops.
October 4th, 2007 at 3:24 pm | posted by Virginia Simmons
A NH ONE volunteer asked Mitt Romney:
“77 million kids in the developing world aren’t enrolled in primary education. Either they don’t go to school or sometimes they end up being educated in madrassas. As president, what would you do to make sure those kids are enrolled in primary education?”
On September 27th, we had lunch with Josh Romney. (Believe it or not, there are four more Romney boys all out stumping for their Dad, Mitt Romney).
Josh was in Reno for a luncheon and then off to Vegas for an evening event. We were able to chat with Josh “ONE on one” for about 5 to 10 minutes. He knew of the ONE campaign and was happy to wear a wrist band. He indicated that ONE is a great campaign and then asked if we knew of an organization with which he works closely, called “Right to Play”. The organization organizes humanitarian projects in Africa, Asia and the Middle East that are sports programs; thus combining play and fun with immunizations to improve the health of children affected by war, poverty and disease. Josh impressed us most with his compassion for children living in poverty.
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.
Last night in Manchester, the New Hampshire Political Library held its annual awards dinner and among the honorees in attendance were former 2008 presidential candidate Gov. Mitt Romney and former 2000 presidential candidate Sen. Bill Bradley.
In the lobby, I found myself next to Sen. Bradley and was able to offer him a ONE band while I explained that ONE is made up of more than 2.4 million Americans who want our country to better address the emergency crisis of global disease and extreme global poverty. I even mentioned to Sen. Bradley, who is supporting Sen. Obama, that at many town halls and speeches, Sen. Obama often talks about bigger and better US efforts to combat AIDS and malaria in Africa and help save lives of the poorest people on Earth.
On September 27th, we had lunch with Josh Romney. (Believe it or not, there are four more Romney boys all out stumping for their Dad, Mitt Romney).
