ONE Campaign launches ONE Vote ’16 Effort in South Carolina
January 25, 2016
Presidential Candidates Encouraged to Help End Extreme Poverty
With foreign policy playing a bigger and bigger role in the 2016 election, ONE — the international policy and advocacy organization co-founded by U2 lead singer, Bono — has launched a non-partisan campaign to ensure that global development is not left out of the foreign policy debate. Backed by nearly 2 million ONE members across the United States, ONE Vote ’16 aims to reshape the foreign affairs conversation by educating and mobilizing voters to ensure that the next president will take office with a plan to fight extreme poverty and the spread of preventable diseases.
Ending extreme poverty is in the United States’ strategic interest. Vaccinating someone’s child, helping to provide lifesaving medication and food, or partnering to provide access to electricity and job opportunities encourage stability abroad and promote security and economic growth here at home.
“This election could determine whether the world will eliminate extreme poverty and stop the spread of preventable diseases like HIV/AIDS,” said Abby Sasser, ONE Vote ’16 campaign director. “Under Republican and Democratic presidents, the United States has made contributions to the fight against extreme poverty that should make Americans proud. The next president and the next Congress will take office with the U.S. in a position to implement uniquely innovative, effective, and affordable solutions that will save lives and make our country more secure. It’s up to each of us to raise our voices and show candidates that these issues matter to us. Extreme poverty has already been cut by 60 percent and can be virtually eliminated by 2030, but we must act with urgency now.”
The ONE Vote ’16 campaign is operating both on and off the campaign trail — publicly at events in key primary states, in the news media, and during debates; and privately by engaging directly with candidates and campaign staffs behind the scenes. ONE Vote ’16 has field infrastructure already operating in Iowa, New Hampshire, and here in South Carolina, and every presidential candidate has been asked to submit a two-minute video statement to answer one question: “if elected, what will you do to fight extreme poverty, particularly in Africa?”
Candidates who submit responses by Super Tuesday will have their videos emailed to all 2 million of ONE’s U.S. members, shared with the news media and on ONE’s social media platforms, and posted to ONEVote16.org.
The ONE Vote ’16 effort in South Carolina is supported by an advisory committee that includes:
• The Honorable David Beasley, Former Governor of South Carolina
• The Honorable Jim Hodges, Former Governor of South Carolina
• The Honorable Weston Adams, Former Ambassador
• Ms. Susan B. Bankson, Wells Fargo Community Affairs Officer
• Rev. Carleathea Benson, SC Conference of the United Methodist Church
• Dr. Christopher Day, Assistant Professor, College of Charleston
• The Honorable Billy Keyserling, Mayor of Beaufort
• Mr. Leighton Lord, Attorney at Law, Nexsen Pruet
• Mr. JT McLawhorn, President and CEO, Columbia Urban League
• Dr. Edward O’Bryan, Co-founder, Palmetto Medical Initiative
• Dr. Wade Reardon, Ophthamologist, Southern Eye Associates
• The Honorable Bob Royall, Former Ambassador
• Ms. Jenny Sanford, Former First Lady of South Carolina
“The current range of Presidential candidates tends to focus on defense, and to a lesser extent diplomacy, as our main instruments of foreign policy and national security,” said advisory committee member Dr. Christopher Day, Assistant Professor of Political Science at the College of Charleston. “ONE Vote ’16 aims to have the next President of the United States understand that development is of equal importance to our national interests and must give it the right amount of attention.”
For more information on ONE Vote ’16, visit www.onevote16.org.
ONE Vote ‘16 is a project of ONE Action, the nonpartisan political advocacy arm of the ONE Campaign, a global advocacy and campaigning organization co-founded by Bono and backed by 7 million people around the world dedicated to fighting extreme poverty and preventable disease.
