WASHINGTON, D.C. – More than 104,000 Americans have signed a petition asking presidential debate moderator Jim Lehrer to ask the candidates “just ONE question” about global poverty during Friday’s first presidential debate. It is the largest petition asking for a specific issue to be raised in the upcoming exchange between Barack Obama and John McCain focusing on foreign policy and national security.

“In modern U.S. presidential debates, just two questions have been related to extreme poverty. It’s time for a third,” ONE President and CEO David Lane said.

“We face very difficult challenges – the economic crisis, the hunger crisis and the energy crisis.  The people who will be hardest hit by these who are least able to endure it – the extremely poor around the world.  More than 100,000 ONE members want Jim Lehrer to put the question directly to the candidates:  ‘What will you do to protect the world’s most vulnerable people and help them to lift themselves out of extreme poverty?’  The need is more critical now than ever for America to continue its lifesaving work in the poorest parts of the world,” Lane added.

As the candidates prepare to debate foreign policy on Friday, a question addressing global poverty is tactical. Security experts – from the left and the right – have pointed to “smart power” as a forward-thinking approach to American foreign policy.  In July, at a speech at the U.S. Global Leadership Campaign, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates pointed out the benefits of this strategy.

“Broadly speaking, when it comes to America’s engagement with the rest of the world, you probably don’t hear this often from a Secretary of Defense, it is important that the military is – and is clearly seen to be – in a supporting role to civilian agencies,” Secretary Gates said. “What the Pentagon calls ‘kinetic’ operations should be subordinate to measures to promote participation in government, economic programs to spur development, and efforts to address the grievances that often lie at the heart of insurgencies and among the discontented from which the terrorists recruit.”

“In recent years the lines separating war, peace, diplomacy, and development have become more blurred, and no longer fit the neat organizational charts of the 20th century. All the various elements and stakeholders working in the international arena – military and civilian, government and private – have learned to stretch outside their comfort zone to work together and achieve results,” Gates added.

Foreign policy research shows the importance to voters of restoring America’s image around the world.  A Pew Research Center study, released this summer, showed that more Americans now say that the United States is less respected in the world than it has been in the past, and a growing proportion views this as a major problem for the country.  More than seven-in-ten Americans (71%) say that the United States is less respected by other countries these days, up from 65% in August 2006.  More than half of the people surveyed (56%) found this to be a major problem, up from 48% in 2006.

“A new approach to foreign policy that leads with our diplomatic, humanitarian and healing abilities can transform global attitudes about America, strengthening the world’s view of U.S. action abroad. Friday’s debate gives each candidate the chance to explain how they will make the fight against extreme poverty a cornerstone of their administration’s foreign policy,” ONE’s Lane said.

ONE polling nationally and in key battleground states backs up the Pew survey. ONE’s polling shows that 65 percent of voters rated as a very important goal for the next president to restore respect for U.S. through positive leadership on major global challenges.  In battleground New Hampshire, the numbers are even higher.  Nearly all Democrats (97%) and 70% of Republicans agree that America’s standing has suffered in recent years.  In addition to a strong military, Democrats (91%) and Republicans (78%) agree that the United States also needs to improve diplomatic relations by doing more to help improve health, education and opportunities in the poorest countries around the world.

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