RPV Convention Video: Keynote Speech by George Allen

Former U.S. Senator and former Virginia Governor George F. Allen (who also served in Congress and held Thomas Jefferson's seat in the Virginia House of Delegates) was the keynote speaker at the 2008 Republican Party of Virginia state convention.

This video has most of his speech. The first part is truncated because Allen spoke earlier than the convention's printed program indicated, and I was caught by surprise. I didn't miss much, though; here are the opening paragraphs that do not appear on the video (idiosyncratic grammar, punctuation, and capitalization as in original):

Ladies and Gentlemen, diverse stripes of Republicans, Patriotic freedom fighters all -- are you all ready to win? Well, then, [ladies and gentlemen] -- Start your Creative Engines! This is a crucial election year where our fellow Virginians and the people of the United States will choose the direction of our country in consequential times. This is a time we need a person with experience, judgment and a proven record of leadership. We need John McCain as our next President of the United States.

Soon we will find out who our Chairman and U.S. Senate nominee will be. Whoever prevails will need all our support in welcoming to people to join our Republican team.

My friends, the reality is that voters care about more than just Republican vs. Democrat. They care about ideas, solutions, and guiding principles. To motivate people for our cause, we need to let them know what we stand for!

We get our philosophical inspiration from George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Ronald Reagan. Ronald Reagan once said "Republicans believe every day is the 4th of July, but Democrats believe every day is April 15." Voters do need to compare competing visions.

That is where the video begins. Note that the above prepared remarks were meant to be delivered before we knew that Jim Gilmore was the nominee for the U.S. Senate race. (I also must apologize for some of the garbled audio moments. I don't know what caused them.)

Part I:



Part II: