Today, the ONE Campaign launched ONE Vote ’08, which will push presidential candidates to “make the fight against global poverty a key foreign policy and security issue.” ONE Vote ’08 plans to spend at least $30 million to educate voters on the fight against global poverty. Watch the campaign video featuring U2′s Bono, New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, actor Matt Damon, and others:

Today, ThinkProgress attended a briefing with the ONE Vote ’08 co-chairs, former Senate Majority Leaders Tom Daschle (D-SD) and Bill Frist (R-TN), along with advisers Michael Gerson and John Podesta. All participants stressed that the fight against global poverty is necessary to ensure America’s national security. Daschle stated that the “new paradigm” of national security extends beyond military power:

[W]e really can’t simply respond to suicide bombers and think somehow that alone will be the investment in national security that we need for the future. That a new paradigm with a realization that there is a direct impact between our success on the ground in Uganda and our safety and security in the United States can be drawn.

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As it stands today, even the United States’s closest allies are severely hostile toward U.S. leadership. According to a recent poll, 10 out of 15 countries surveyed believe that United States cannot be trusted to “act responsibly in the world.” All 15 of those countries reject the idea that “as the sole remaining superpower, the US should continue to be the preeminent world leader in solving international problems.” Similarly, global opinions of the United States have slipped considerably since 2000.

Find out more about ONE Vote ’08 HERE.

Christy at Firedoglake and the ONE blog have more.

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On February 4, 2007, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) predicted that “in the case of the Iraqi government cooperating and doing what’s necessary, we can know fairly well in a few months.” Four months later, however, there “has been little or no progress in achieving” key political benchmarks in Iraq, including a lack of “new laws governing the sharing of Iraq’s oil resources.”

Appearing on ABC’s This Week yesterday, McCain reversed course from his previous prediction, instead offering that never in his “wildest dreams” would he expect Gen. David Petraeus “to come back and say ‘everything’s fine now,’ just a few months after we’ve adopted a new strategy.” McCain added, “I regret that now September seems to be a magic moment.” Watch it:

McCain said, “General Petraeus is not happy with saying [in] September we have to know exactly whether we are going to stay or go.” But he neglected to mention that the September deadline was originally set by Petraeus, along with Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker. Now, both he and Petraeus appear to be angling for more time.

McCain is hardly a credible messenger to be asking for more patience. In 2003, McCain said that “conflict” in Iraq would be “relatively short.” In 2005, he claimed that “a year from now, we will have a fair amount of progress [in Iraq] if we stay the course.” In 2006, after being forced to apologize for his previous claims, McCain went on to predict “we’re either going to lose this thing or win this thing within the next several months.” Three months ago, he said it was “our last shot” at success.

McCain should focus his “regret” on the fact that he been wrong at every turn in the Iraq disaster.

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