Adnan Barqawi's Speech at the RPV Convention

All the buzz about the RPV convention, aside from general comments about the results of the voting (for those who haven't heard, Bob McDonnell is running for governor, Bill Bolling for lieutenant governor, and Ken Cuccinelli for attorney general), has been about the recent Virginia Tech graduate who gave the final formal speech to the delegates.

Adnan Barqawi became a U.S. citizen on April 17. Last fall, he became commander of the Corps of Cadets at Virginia Tech. He delivered a strong, heartfelt address on the meaning of citizenship and the values that Americans hold dear. (I liveblogged about his speech -- and the rest of the convention -- yesterday. His comments begin at "3:15 p.m." Or perhaps I should have said "1515" in military time.)

In style and substance, Barqawi outshone keynote speaker Sean Hannity and most of the politicians who crossed the stage on Saturday.

A typical comment on Barqawi's speech comes from Nick Howard at Tertium Quids:

Adnan Barqawi was the final speaker (other than acceptance speeches). Outstanding. Simply outstanding. The best speaker of the convention. I hope his speech is available on YouTube.

Nick's wish is granted. I uploaded video from Adnan Barqawi's speech just a few minutes ago to YouTube. Here it is, in two segments, divided by applause (and there was a lot of it -- the ovation at the end of the speech lasted for more than half a minute).

Part I:


Part II:

Political Brambles wrote of the speech:

This young man was an inspiration to all at the convention and brought the delegates to their feet cheering on three separate occasions. His address was inspirational and motivational. He is a new citizen of the United States and proud to be called an American.

AMCIT wrote on AMCIT's Weblog:

Watch him. Charismatic, good speaker, outstanding message. I had tears in my eyes. The man will go far.

Immediately, he’s about to head for the Mississippi Delta as part of the “Teachers for America” program. With a teacher carrying this message, our students will do well.

If I had an inkling all college students would hear and heed his message, I would never again worry about the future of our country.

If Adnan Barqawi returns to the Old Dominion from Mississippi, he will be a force to reckon with in Virginia politics. His vigorous delivery of what could have been an anodyne speech left the thousands of Republicans in attendance at the RPV convention with a sense of purpose, unity, and pride -- much needed qualities given the electoral losses of the past few years. Could we one day be inaugurating Governor Barqawi on the steps of Mr. Jefferson's Capitol?

Update: The full text of Adnan Barqari's remarks is now available on the Virginia GOP's web site.

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