You almost have to picture this as a moment of high irony, but the current Miss America, Erika Harold, paid a visit to Bloggers Corner. Why a beautiful and intelligent young woman (as we soon discovered Erika to be) would want to hang out with the computer geeks escapes me, but she gave us a delightful and insightful interview that completely negates any preconceptions about beauty-pageant contestants you ever held.

Erika spoke at length about her battle to speak out about abstinence as a major part of her Miss America mission to reduce the spread of HIV and other diseases, especially in lower-income schools. Erika told us that individuals within the Miss America program became uncomfortable with her approach, taking care to avoid any hint of controversy. However, Erika stuck to her guns, showing the mettle she will need when she starts her first term next week at Harvard Law School as she turns over her crown to the next winner.

I think I can speak for everyone when I say that while Erika's beauty and grace impressed us all at first -- you never saw our group move so quickly to an interview -- her ideals and her commitment to her values impressed us even more. When asked who she supported in the upcoming election, she emphasized that she supported the President because he shared her values in terms of faith, respect for life, and providing educational choices for less-fortunate children. She spoke with passion about a policy-wonk issue like No Child Left Behind, explaining the importance of Bush's message to these children. Bush, she said, makes it clear that they mean something to him, and to all of us, a message that they haven't heard before.

Erika will speak to the convention tomorrow at 8:42 PM ET. The networks will likely not carry convention coverage until just after she speaks, which seems like it suits Erika just fine, but do yourself a favor and tune in on C-SPAN to watch this remarkable young woman. You may as well do it now; you'll be hearing big things from Erika Harold in the future.

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» Someone To Watch...Definately from Ubique Patriam Reminisci
Power Line writes in their post-opening-convention-night summary... ... ...erm...wait...what was I talking about? EDIT: Captain Ed has more. ...you never saw our group move so quickly to an interview... Heh. [Read More]

Tracked on August 31, 2004 7:09 AM