"Delegate Paul C. Harris, R-Albemarle County, stepped onto a national political stage and opened Monday night's ' Republican National Convention program with a speech that sounded some of Texas Gov. George W. Bush's favorite themes.

Harris, the first black Republican elected Ito the Virginia General Assembly in more than 100 years, spoke for about four minutes to a cheering and overwhelmingly white Republican audience of personal responsibility, and of pursuing opportunity in education and the American Dream regardless of skin color.
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Citing the legacy of Thomas Jefferson, who once held the same seat as Harris in the House of Delegates, Harris quoted from the Declaration of Independence, conceived of 224 years ago in Philadelphia, that among the truths Americans hold to be self-evident are that 'all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.'

He then added: 'In pursuing the American Dream, race and skin color do not matter. Economic station does not matter. National origin does not matter. What matters is the inner spirit of a child.'

'What matters,' Harris told the GOP convention, 'is that every child, from every background, in every classroom in America is treated as an individual with a mind and a heart. More than ever before, we need a president who has the vision, the compassion and the experience to open these new opportunities to all our children.'

He took a poke at Democrats an at affirmative action programs adding, 'We need a president who will lead the effort to end the destructive habit of categorizing children according to the color of their skin, family income or national origin. Low expectations and low standards may be the liberal prescription for America's poor and minority kids, but we know better.'

Virginia's convention delegation, which has five black Republicans among its 56 delegates, gave Harris high marks for his speech.

Lt. Gov. John H. Hager called Harris the 'anchor' for Bush's first night convention theme of 'Opportunity with a Purpose: Leave No Child Behind.'

'I think he did a beautiful job,' Hager said.

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Tucker Watkins, 5th District GOP chairman, called Harris 'an inspiration to a lot of people in the 5th District of Virginia and all over this country. You can't be happier that to have two people like Paul Harris and Virgil Goode in your district.'
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With his wife watching on Sunday, Harris said he practiced the speech three times in a trailer behind the First Union Center convention hall. 'That was the first time I ever used a TelePrompter," Harris said Monday. 'It came fairly naturally.'

'It's very exciting,' Harris said after he bounded off the platform Monday night. He told reporters that his time on the podium 'went by too fast. It's an awesome view. You get a panoramic view of America when you're on the podium.'

'This is a far cry from the Greene County Pig Roast,' Harris said. 'That's where it all statrted for me.' Harris won a GOP primary and election to the House of Delegates in 1997 by landslide margins and then won his second term in the Republican-leaning district by a sizeable margin last fall" (Bob Gibson, The Daily Progress, August 1, 2000).