The 2008 race for the white house officially began last night when the Iowa caucuses sent a message. "It's all about change." And Barack Obama and Mike Huckabee are their guys.
On Tuesday, The Black AIDS Institute (The Institute) released the first in a series of educational briefs on electoral politics-We Demand Accountability: The 2008 Presidential Elections and the Black AIDS Epidemic (www.blackAIDS.org). This report is not only the first analysis to look at the presidential candidates from the perspective of AIDS in Black America; it is the first overview of where all the candidates stand on any issue of import to Black America.
Both Obama and Huckabee characterized themselves as change agents. The question for America is "What kind of Change?" Ending AIDS in Black America is about change as well-personal, professional and political change. As we dive now into the primary season, Black America must take responsibility for our own health and that of our communities. And part of that responsibility is insisting that our elected officials also do their part to help us end this epidemic.
We Demand Accountability empowers Black voters to engage elected officials by:
· Educating Black voters on the key questions that they should expect any candidate for elected office to answer about HIV/AIDS in our community;
· Putting the campaigns and candidates on notice that Black America will expect them to not only be aware of the problem but to have a plan for dealing with it; and
· Educating voters on what the current presidential candidates have and have not contributed to the fight against AIDS in Black America.
A review of the overall field of candidates in the Democratic and Republican parties provides a stark comparison. All eight Democratic candidates have robust public records on the core questions,-reducing HIV infections, increasing testing, increasing access to treatment, and reducing stigma-there is scant information available on any of the questions for all of the Republicans. What information is available about the Republican candidates does not bode well for the Black epidemic.
Some notable differences between the parties are:
· Six Democrats have committed to drafting a national strategy to end AIDS; only one Republican has done so.
· Seven of eight Democrats support lifting the ban on federal funding for needle exchange; no Republican has made such a commitment.
· All three front-running Democrats-Sen. Barack Obama, Sen. John Edwards and Sen. Hillary Clinton -have published AIDS plans that stress the import of addressing the epidemic's racial disparities; no Republican candidate has done so.
· Seven of eight Democrats have vowed to increase funding for the Ryan White CARE Act; no Republican has done so.
Among the top-tier Democrats, conversely, there is great similarity. All agree on basic principles of targeting resources to address the Black epidemic, putting science ahead of ideology and politics, and building a national strategy with goals to which we can all be held accountable.
There are, however, notable differences in details among the leading Democrats:
· While Edwards and Obama have vowed to end funding for abstinence-only sex education, Clinton has stated only her support for comprehensive sex education.
· Obama's record on encouraging HIV testing among Blacks far outstrips all other candidates: He and his wife, Michelle, have been publicly tested and have spoken forcefully about testing's import.
· Clinton, both in response to the survey and in her subsequently published AIDS platform, has made the most forceful commitment to working with Black faith leaders to address the epidemic.
Getting informed is the first step in getting engaged. We Demand Accountability gives Black voters the information we need to get engaged politically on AIDS. We at Black Voices are committed to doing our part to help keep you informed. Over the next few weeks we will provide an analysis of Senator Clinton's and Governor Richardson's plans. We pledge to keep you up to date on what the candidates are doing and/or saying about HIV/AIDS every step of the way.
1. i JUST WISH THAT AIDS IN AMERICA WILL BE A TOPIC DISCUSSED MORE OFTEN BECAUSE IT SEEMS AS IF AMERICA IS MORE FOCUSED ON THE AIDS EPIDEMIC IN THE OTHER COUNTRIES THAN RIGHT HERE AT OUR DOORSTEPS AMERICA. LIKE THE SONG SAYS SWEEP AROUND YOUR OWN FRONT DOOR WHICH IS AMERICA BEFORE YOU SWEEP AROUND MINES THE OTHER COUNTRIES IF WE SPEND THE MONEY COLLECTED FOR AIDS OVER HERE WE WILL PROBABLY HAVE A CURE FOR IT RIGHT NOW BUT WE ARE GIVING OUR MONEY TO OTHER COUNTRIES IF WE FIND A CURE FIRST THEN INSTEAD OF GIVING MONEY TO THE OTHER COUNTRIES WE CAN GIVE THEM THE CURE.
sunshine111 at 10:24PM on Jan 4th 2008