The genocidal situation in Darfur continues to worsen, with more killings and increased attacks on peacekeepers.  All the efforts to date by the U.N., the U.S., and other governments have failed to stop the atrocities. 

In this morning’s New York Times, the Save Darfur coalition ran an ad with the message: “We stand united and demand that the genocide and violence in Darfur be brought to an end.”  It was signed by the three remaining presidential candidates – Hillary Rodham Clinton, John McCain, and Barack Obama.   The statement, We Stand United On Sudan, concluded: 

Today, we wish to make clear to the Sudanese government that on this moral issue of tremendous importance, there is no divide between us. We stand united and demand that the genocide and violence in Darfur be brought to an end and that the CPA be fully implemented. Even as we campaign for the presidency, we will use our standing as Senators to press for the steps needed to ensure that the United States honors, in practice and in deed, its commitment to the cause of peace and protection of Darfur’s innocent citizenry. We will continue to keep a close watch on events in Sudan and speak out for its marginalized peoples. It would be a huge mistake for the Khartoum regime to think that it will benefit by running out the clock on the Bush Administration. If peace and security for the people of Sudan are not in place when one of us is inaugurated as President on January 20, 2009, we pledge that the next Administration will pursue these goals with unstinting resolve.

An Associated Press story called it a rare show of bipartisan unity.  It is that, and it is also a hopeful sign that on this moral issue, there are indeed no Democrats or Republicans, conservatives or liberals, only compassion and a commitment to do everything possible to bring an end to the horror in Darfur.