"One Campaign" stumps for Africa in New Hampshire

RYE, New Hampshire (Reuters) - The war in Iraq, the war on terrorism and how to improve America's image abroad are hot issues as presidential hopefuls court New Hampshire voters before the state's January 8 nominating primary.

But former U.S. Marine Michael Castaldo has been working tirelessly since February to focus voters on another foreign-policy issue -- how the United States can do more to combat extreme poverty in places like Africa, eradicate malaria, combat AIDS/HIV and secure fair trade rules for poor nations.

As a volunteer for the One Campaign -- an alliance of more than 100 charities funded by Irish rock star Bono and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation -- Castaldo says he has attended more than 200 campaign appearances since February.

"This is a softball issue, I mean, how could you not fall into line?" Castaldo told Reuters as he worked the crowd at a campaign event for Sen. John McCain. "A lot of progress has been made but the next president needs to do more."

The One campaign has applauded efforts by President George W. Bush's administration to reduce African debt and combat disease on that continent.

Castaldo -- who served as a Marine from 1984 to 1990, votes Republican and is an atheist -- attends as many campaign events as time permits to press Republicans and Democrats alike to signal their support for One's agenda.

Those tactics seem to be paying off. At almost every McCain campaign stop in the Granite State, the Republican from Arizona hands over his microphone to a One volunteer to tell voters about its agenda.

Castaldo asks candidates questions and says he gets supportive answers from Democrats, including front-runners Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama as well as from Republicans including former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

If voters tell him Africa is a low priority in the post- September 11 world, he replies, "If we don't improve our image overseas, we're going to lose the war on terror."

Volunteers like Castaldo are just part of One's effort to get candidates, hoping to replace Bush in the November general election, to talk about its agenda.

"THEY WILL HEAR"

The campaign is airing TV ads in New Hampshire where an announcer says: "Join us to plead as one, to heal and bring hope to the world. Ask each presidential candidate if they're on the record fighting global poverty and disease. One voice, plus yours, and millions of others; they will hear."

Matthew Bartlett is One's regional coordinator, one of three paid staff in New Hampshire he says are working with hundreds of volunteers to get the message out.

"We still have more than a billion people living on less than a dollar a day and dying by the millions from what we call stupid death," Bartlett said at a Londonderry campaign event, referring to deaths caused by starvation and malaria.

"The One campaign is designed to rally Americans ... and get our elected leaders to know we want them to get the job done, that we in American can save lives in Africa and in other desperate places," Bartlett said.

The campaign will not endorse any presidential candidate. Instead it compiles what candidates have said on poverty and other issues on its Web site, www.onevote08.org, to help voters decide who they want in the White House.

Since taking up the cause in earnest, Castaldo says he has clocked 10,000 miles driving across New Hampshire and donated more than 2,000 hours of his time. A former stockbroker and now a full-time homemaker, he and his wife have three children -- one with autism and one with Asperger's disorder, a related condition.

For him, it is all about children. "I am doing this for the AIDS orphans," he said.

Asked what prompted him to join the One campaign with such commitment, he cited an unlikely source of inspiration -- the quirky British sitcom "The Vicar of Dibley."

Castaldo said he saw an episode in which the show's star, Dawn French, watched a video about the plight of children in Africa whose parents had died of AIDS.

"I couldn't watch it and not do anything," he said, crying as he recalled the images that moved him to action. "I told my wife I had to do something."

(Editing by Peter Cooney)