The countdown to Election Day was prominently posted in the campaign headquarters of both Senate candidates Joe Donnelly, D-Ind., and Richard Mourdock, R-Ind., and time is running out. Earlier this week, a group of ONE volunteers, including my young son, delivered petitions signed by more than 800 ONE members in Indiana, reminding these candidates that as voters we expect them to fight extreme poverty and preventable disease around the world.
We had the opportunity to take a picture with Senate candidate Joe Donnelly at his campaign headquarters downtown Indianapolis. Entering the room, Joe first greeted my one-year-old son who was strapped in his stroller playing with three or four plastic ONE bracelets. Wouldn’t it be great, we thought beforehand, if our little guy would hand Joe Donnelly a ONE bracelet? Talk about a photo op!
With Senate candidate Joe Donnelly
My son was not interested in sharing the bracelets, but Joe did manage to charm a fist-bump and a high five out of him. We were all warmly greeted and got our picture with Joe Donnelly, candidate for Senate. I handed Joe the petition saying, “This petition is signed by more than 800 Indiana voters who care about fighting extreme poverty and preventable disease.” Accepting the petition, Mr. Donnelly gave me a determined look saying, “Please tell the 800 voters that I met with you. It’s going to be close.”
In front of Richard Mourdock’s headquarters
We were a 20-minute car trip away from Richard Mourdock’s campaign headquarters, time enough for my toddler to remove his socks and shoes and throw them to the darkest depths of our minivan. We left the shoes, socks, and the stroller, choosing to carry our squirmy barefoot son into Mourdock’s headquarters.
We were greeted by two young men wearing red Mourdock shirts assembling hundreds of yard signs. Signs on the floor, signs leaning against the walls, the HQ entrance was a wall of metal and plastic soon to be posted all over the state. A third young man greeted us, thanking us for the petition. As my son wandered barefoot close by, we took a picture and were offered yard signs.
It has been an honor to represent all the ONE members who signed our ONE Vote online petition and to get to experience the energy our candidates are putting into the upcoming Senatorial election. I am hopeful that these candidates working so hard to earn our vote will be equally as diligent fighting for our issues.
-Mary Barbara Marti, ONE Congressional District Leader from Indianapolis