Good for Cindy McCain Wed Jul 9, 1:24 PM ET



The Nation -- Good for Cindy McCain.

The Republican who would be First Lady will travel to Africa this month as part of a a bipartisan delegation that will visit Rwanda on behalf of the ONE Campaign to address extreme poverty and preventable diseases.

The wife of presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain will travel to Africa from July 17 to July 23 with former Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee and a pair of leading former chiefs of staff in the Clinton White House, the Center for American Progress' John Podesta and former California Congressman and OMB director Leon Panetta, on a trip led by ONE Vote '08 Co-Chairs and former U.S. Senate Majority Leaders Tom Daschle, D-South Dakota, and Bill Frist, R-Tennessee.

"America is forging a legacy of hope and survival in some of the world's poorest places, giving millions of families access to medicines, clean water and the chance at an education," ONE President and C.E.O. David Lane said. "Our next president has the opportunity to finish the job --- to finally erase the kind of suffocating, needless poverty that claims thousands of lives each day. We know what works and we know the way, but we need our next president to show the will."

While he did not do enough, George Bush did a lot more than previous presidents to increase U.S. support for anti-AIDS programs and usually (although not always) sound development projects in Africa.

Bush's commitment needs to be expanded upon and improved upon.

This must happen no matter who is elected president in November.

Getting Cindy McCain to Africa, showing her initiatives that are working and encouraging her to become an advocate within a potential McCain administration for anti-poverty programs is smart -- and necessary -- politics.

And Cindy McCain ought not be dismissed as a mere election-year tourist when it comes to these concerns. She has served on the board of CARE International, a ONE coalition partner, since 2005. She is, as well a founder of the American Voluntary Medical Team, which organizes trips for medical personnel to provide emergency care to regions that have been hit by natural disasters and wars.

Cindy McCain's presence on this trip fits with the message of the One Campaign, which has organized more than 2.4 million people in all 50 states, along with more 100 of the country's largest non-profit, advocacy and humanitarian organizations to say that the work of fighting extreme poverty and preventable diseases should be a bipartisan endeavor.

Come to think of it: Instead of jetting around the world for self-serving photo opportunities this summer, wouldn't it be great if Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama traveled together to Africa? They could, in the spirit of the ONE Campaign, issue a joint statement committing that, no matter who wins, the authority and the resources of the United States will be used to "Make Poverty History."