Ask the Candidates About Darfur:

Over the past months, the presidential candidates and the media have been making statements about issues they think Americans care about in the upcoming election.

Now it's YOUR TURN to make a statement.

Watch Nefertari explain why she is voting to end the genocide in Darfur, then submit your own video.

Let the candidates know that Darfur is an important issue for Americans. Explain that stopping the genocide in Darfur must be a priority for the next president.

SUBMIT A VIDEO and tell us why, come November, you will VOTE FOR DARFUR!

Ask the Candidates will feature one video per week on our website. Your video could be next!

Send your video to the candidates:

Make sure to also wubmit your video to Campus Progress's I'm Voting For Campaign. Each week, a new group of videos will be sent to the candidates and major media to let them know what issues Americans are voting for.

Having trouble uploading your video?

Let us help! Email your video file to info@askthecandidates.org and we will upload it to YouTube for you. 

It was only a few months ago that the Ask The Candidates was out in Iowa, demanding to know what the presidential candidates would do to end genocide and caucusing for Darfur.  Though the Iowa caucus was back in January, the process in Iowa is actually not over yet.  This weekend, the final Iowa delegates will be chosen at the state conventions. In addition to choosing delegates, part of the caucus process also includes choosing a state platform for each party.  The platforms are a means for parties to state their positions and philosophies on various issues.  As a swing state, Senators McCain and Obama will spend a great deal of time campaigning in Iowa and will be very interested in the content of the parties' state platforms. 

This weekend, at the state convention, the five districts in Iowa will present their decided platforms and a coherent state platform will be determined.  Darfur has been made a priority by all five Democratic districts (we are hoping to hear from the Republican districts very soon).

Statements from the five district platforms include the following:

• "Strong action in concert with the international community to end the genocide in Darfur and work for a fair and lasting peace."
• "We support...robust world efforts to prevent and end genocide [and] rapid international peacekeeping intervention in armed conflicts."
• "We support...ending genocide in Darfur and elsewhere, including the use of targeted sanctions and a full-time diplomatic team in the region and quick response to future genocide."
• "We believe the US in cooperation with the international community should take decisive action to end genocide and human rights violations in Darfur and throughout the world."
• "Support U.S. cooperation with the international community to impose targeted sanctions on any government official or faction leader who commits atrocities, impedes the peace process, or obstructs the deployment of a peacekeeping force in Darfur."

Thanks to everyone who has worked relentlessly to bring Darfur and genocide to the forefront of the campaign in Iowa and throughout the country!  Let's continue to make this an issue in the national campaign and ensure that the next president will end the atrocities being committed in Darfur!

Ending the genocide in Darfur is not the only issue U.S. presidential candidates agree upon; Senators McCain and Obama have both recognized the efforts of "young people" in keeping this issue on the political radar, as well as mobilizing public support and political will.

Senator Obama credited youth for engaging in "activism based not on self-interest, but on moral imperative," and "expressing their idealism through this movement." Senator McCain praised "young people all over America" and "the people and organizations who have dedicated so much of their time, their effort, their energy, and their funds" to the cause.

One such organization is STAND: A Student Anti-genocide Coalition, comprised of more than 800 chapters worldwide. Since September, 2007, 192 new chapters have formed in universities across the United States, demonstrating youth's passion and dedication towards this issue.

With a heated presidential campaign building, the number of opportunities to make your voice heard on this issue is increasing. Young people may be the loudest in the cause to save the millions displaced in Sudan, but people of all ages can raise their voices for the vicitims who quietly suffer from the ensuing violence and disease.

Last week, in a historic act of unity, Senators McCain, Obama and Clinton proclaimed to U.S. voters, the world, and President Bashir that bringing peace to Sudan transcends partisan politics in the U.S. All of them have publicly proclaimed that Darfur is of serious concern to them, and we have seen that this has rattled the Government of Sudan.

This is a great step forward in bringing peace to this war-torn area. However, much progress still needs to be made! The candidates still need to provide concrete plans that they would implement in order to bring peace to Darfur, if they were to be elected president this fall.

This unified claim that the candidates made is historic. But rhetoric is only the first step. We must ensure that this proclamation in the New York Times is transferred into action. We need to know now what each of the candidates will do for Darfur on day one in office.

Click here to write a message to the presidential candidates. Thank them for uniting in their fight against genocide. But also push them to publicly proclaim how they plan on ending the genocide in Darfur. Let them know that you will vote for the candidate who has the best policy to end genocide!

The Government of Sudan has issued a response to the candidates' joint statement on Darfur. The response focused on the notion of change, that has been a centerpiece of the candidates' campaigns.

“Yet the joint statement released yesterday by the “Save Darfur Coalition”, bearing the signatures of the candidates, deviated from this grandiose notion of ‘change’ that they have so championed. There can be no doubt that the Sudanese government is chiefly responsible for the violence and is able to end it” the statement read on the Coalition’s website. To make this claim is hardly “Straight talk”. And if in fact change is our genuine concern, then it seems we should begin by providing an objective account of reality. Nowhere in the joint statement was the voter given the chance to discern it for him/herself. The “Save Darfur Coalition”, after concocting an idyllic picture of events, went as far as drafting an editable “thank you” letter to the candidates for voters to submit. A ready made “thank you” letter, as if voters were short for words to use. Click here to read the complete response by the Goverment of Sudan.

It's apparent from this response that the Government of Sudan is worried about the next president. Click here to thank the candidates for their joint statement and encourage them to keep up the pressure on Sudan.

Over the past three days, we have featured each of the candidates' video statements on Darfur. These statements are valuable, but unfortunately, they are not current - the statements were made almost six months ago.

What are the candidates' current policies and opinions for Darfur? How can we make our decision, when the candidates' statements are 6 months old? Click here to send a message asking the candidates to publicize their current Darfur policy. 

On the final day of our three-part series, we are featuring Senator Clinton's video statement on Darfur. In November, Senator Clinton told Save Darfur:

What we need now is strong American leadership so that the government of Sudan understands that it can no longer carry out these atrocities with impunity. . . We need to raise this issue directly with China which has a lot of leverage on Khartoum and has been the main obstacle to strong Security Council action. That is especially important to do before the Beijing Olympics. That is when we have the most leverage, and that is what I would be pressing.

Watch the rest of Senator Clinton's video on Darfur, and then make your own. Click here to find out how you can submit your own video and tell the candidates why you are voting for Darfur.

Read more on Senator Clinton's policies and statements on Darfur. Then contact Senator Clinton and tell her what you think.

To view the other candidates video statements, view our previous Campaign Updates.

Today we feature Senator McCain's video statement on Darfur, which focuses on creating a "League of Democracies" to fight against genocide. Senator McCain told Save Darfur last November:

 If the Chinese continue to help the government of Sudan and continue to block our efforts in the United Nations then we join a "League of Democracies." A "League of Democracies" that value human rights, that never want to see this genocide take place again.  

Watch the rest of Senator McCain's video on Darfur, and then make your own. Click here to find out how you can submit your own video and tell the candidates why you are voting for Darfur.

Read more on Senator McCain's policies and statements on Darfur. Then contact Senator McCain and tell him what you think.

This is part two of a three part series. Stay tuned for Senator Clinton's statement tomorrow.

Last November, the Save Darfur Coalition sat down with Senators Clinton, McCain and Obama, to get their opinions on the Darfur genocide. This week, we will feature each of these video statements that highlight the candidates' opinions and policies on Darfur.

Today, we begin with Senator Barack Obama. In November, Senator Obama told Save Darfur that 

"We've got to have a protective force on the ground. Its now been authorized by the United Nations Security Council, but we have to push through any additional resistance that there may be. The United Sates has to make firm committments in terms of the logistics and the transport and the eqipping of these troops to make sure that their actually effective on the ground."

Watch the rest of Senator Obama's video on Darfur, and then make your own. Click here to find out how you can submit your own video and tell the candidates why you are voting for Darfur.

Read more on Senator Obama's policies and statements on Darfur. Then contact Senator Obama and tell him what you think.