Washington, DC, June 5, 2007 – The ONE Campaign is launching ONE Vote ’08, an unprecedented bi-partisan high-tech, high energy campaign to mobilize voters and engage U.S. presidential candidates to make the fight against global poverty and disease a key foreign policy and security issue at the 2008 ballot box.

Two former Senate Majority Leaders – Senators Bill Frist and Tom Daschle – are co-chairing ONE Vote ’08 and will travel the country talking with candidates and voters about America’s role in the world and what the next president can do to save lives and secure our future.

ONE Vote ’08: Saving Lives, Securing our Future brings together a powerful alliance, including: bi-partisan leaders, top military commanders, political strategists, the nation’s most influential faith leaders and ONE’s powerful coalition of millions of informed, active and engaged grassroots supporters and over 100 of the nation’s leading relief, humanitarian, religious and advocacy organizations.
 

WHO: Bill Frist, former Senate Republican Majority Leader
Tom Daschle, former Senate Democratic Majority Leader
General James L. Jones, (ret.) USMC, former Supreme Allied Commander Europe; Current President & CEO, Institute for 21st Century Energy, US Chamber of Commerce [invited]
Susan McCue, President & CEO of The ONE Campaign
Jack Oliver, GOP Strategist and co-chair of The ONE Campaign
Ashley Judd, actress and humanitarian
Brian McLaren, Pastor, named by TIME magazine one of the 25 most influential evangelicals in America
Karen Sichinga, nurse, Churches Health Association of Zambia (CHAZ), Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria
WHEN: Monday, June 11, 2007
Event begins at 11:15 a.m., doors open at 10:45 a.m.
WHERE: St. Mark's Episcopal Church on Capitol Hill
118 Third Street, SE, Washington DC 20003
(Behind the Library of Congress)
ETC: The African Children’s Choir, as seen recently on American Idol’s “Idol Gives Back”
ONE Vote ’08 Video, featuring Bono, Matt Damon, Tom Brady and others
ONE Vote ’08 State Supporters, from Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada will also be participating via satellite
RSVP: To Sarah CrouthersSarah@one.org or (202) 552-4986
 

ONE Vote ’08: Saving Lives, Securing our Future is an unprecedented bi-partisan campaign to engage and energize U.S. Presidential candidates on issues of extreme poverty and global health, bringing high visibility for these issues into the U.S. political arena.

For Immediate Release
June 11, 2007
Contact: Stacie Paxton/Amaya Smith

Washington, DC - Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean and the head of the DNC’s Faith in Action initiative, Rev. Leah Daughtry, issued the following statement praising the announcement of the One Vote '08 Campaign, which will use the 2008 Presidential election to bring national attention to the issue of global poverty:

“Global poverty remains one of the most pressing issues of our time. While it will require a steady focus and united effort to tackle this problem, it is a solvable issue that is not beyond the reach of this generation. Already we have seen what can happen when we join forces to work together for the common good. A diverse group of bi-partisan leaders, from philanthropists, to non-profits, to government have come together to advance this great cause. But there is still work to be done. America has an opportunity to demonstrate moral leadership by showing that we can be a force for compassion that works to alleviate the suffering of others.

“As we head into the 2008 election, Democratic Presidential candidates have made eradicating hunger, poverty and HIV/AIDS a cornerstone of their campaigns. We are proud to have a diverse field of candidates who reflect the core Democratic values of fairness and social justice, values which the Party has a long and proud history of championing. On the Congressional front Democratic leaders have worked to increase funding for the Global Aids Fund and health care programs for developing nations. This much-needed funding will go to fight preventable diseases that continue to ravage poverty stricken areas of the world. In addition, the Congressional Black Caucus has been a tireless advocate in fighting to highlight HIV/AIDS in Africa and genocide in Darfur even before the spotlight was focused on these issues.

“The One Vote 08' effort has brought together a great team of leaders including key Democratic strategists and members of our own DNC Faith Advisory Council. The Democratic Party is wholly committed to playing a leading role in working to eradicate global poverty. As a nation at war in Iraq and Afghanistan, America is witnessing first hand the despair that regional poverty and social instability cause around the world. A lack of education, adequate health care and the absence of hope and opportunity often lead to conditions that wreak havoc on our global and national security. Therefore, it is in all our best interests to work together to address these issues head on. Through our efforts we can send a message to the world that America's concern for the least of these is a core value that reflects the goodness and greatness of our county's founding principles."

PRESS RELEASE from the Republican National Committee
 

For Immediate Release June 11, 2007

Contact: Lisa Miller

WASHINGTON -- RNC Chairman Robert M. “Mike” Duncan released the following statement today urging support for the ONE Vote ’08 global anti-poverty campaign:

“There are some issues that transcend partisanship.  In places where children die of starvation, where twelve-year-olds must raise five-year-olds because there are no more adults, where simply staying alive every single day is a challenge that too many will not meet, the differences between Republicans and Democrats, liberals and conservatives, become meaningless.

“President Bush has committed more resources to combating AIDS and poverty in the Third World than any other President in American history.  He doesn’t do it because he’s a Republican.  He doesn’t do it because it’s good politics.  He does it because it’s the right thing to do.  And now, we have the opportunity to make sure our next President carries on that tradition.

“ONE Vote ’08 is a nonprofit campaign dedicated to making sure the issues of global health and poverty are a part of our national discussion as we elect our next president.  It is completely bipartisan.  Both Democrat and Republican political professionals have pledged themselves to making sure this campaign, the campaign to help relieve suffering unlike anything most of us have ever encountered, wins in 2008, no matter which candidate reaches the White House.

“My job, every single day, is to elect Republican candidates, and I am tremendously dedicated to that job.  But if we can join with Democrats to make sure that this issue remains at the forefront of the next President’s agenda, no matter who that President may be, then I am proud to do it.  ONE Vote ’08 is doing an amazing, compassionate thing, and I am proud to say that the RNC supports their efforts completely.”