About 40 HIV/AIDS advocates convened in Manhattan today to support the launch of political watchdog website AIDSVote.org.

New York-based advocacy groups Housing Works and Gay Men’s Health Crisis announced the launch of the site in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood this morning as they unveiled results from an AIDSVote.org candidate questionnaire and from “Where Do They Stand? The Gay Men’s Health Crisis Report on the 2008 Presidential Candidates and HIV/AIDS Issues.”

“World AIDS Day is this Saturday, but you could also say that World AIDS Day is Election Day 2008.  That’s because our next president will have the opportunity and the responsibility to end AIDS,” said Charles King, President and CEO of Housing Works.  “She or he will have the tools to treat 33 million people living with HIV—including over a million Americans—around the planet, as well as the tools to stop the spread of the virus. We’re here to build the political will to make that happen.”

The results from the surveys showed vast differences between Democratic and Republican candidates. While seven Democratic candidates have pledged $50 billion to fight HIV/AIDS around the world, no Republican candidates have made such a commitment.

Additionally, the three leading Democratic candidates, Senator Barack Obama, Senator Hilary Clinton and former Senator John Edwards, all have shown public support for ending the ban on using federal dollars to fund needle-exchange programs—programs that have been proven to reduce the spread of HIV without increasing drug use.

AIDSVote.org is a nonpartisan campaign that is working to make sure that presidential candidates of all parties know the best strategies for fighting AIDS in the United States and around the world.