George Allen, a former United States Senator and former Governor of Virginia, joined students participating from the George Mason University Video Studio along with Steve Scully, the political editor for the C-SPAN networks, and students from the University of Denver.
The distance learning course, which is produced by C-SPAN, is a unique opportunity for students to interview guests via video conference. The course airs on C-SPAN3 on Fridays at 5 p.m. and also streams online (http://www.c-span.org/Distance_Learning/).
Along with Scully, students asked many questions that Allen responded to both enthusiastically and professionally. Several topics brought up included: his run for election, government spending, energy, social media, and concerns about college tuition (particularly at GMU).
Allen came into the interview with a bold determination, which he displayed impressively and with a good sense of humor. While discussing U.S. politics, Allen brought up his opinion on several matters:
- The Federal government has too much responsibility — which is the cause for the ballooning of our national debt.
- The U.S. shouldn’t be lenient to enemies.
- Defense funding needs to be increased, not cut.
- Overspending
- Research on different energy sources, such as liquid coal.
Concerning new energy sources, Allen emphasized the use of liquid coal as one of the most promising sources. The idea is something the French have been working with recently, and with great success.
“If the French can do it, America can too!”
Taking current sentiment to the French in humor and in good spirit, Allen boisterously proclaimed the need for the U.S. to compete more intelligently with other nations for fuel sources and innovations.
“Defense wins championships.” Allen was particularly focused on discussing national defense, and related to its importance with tag-lines such as this. Allen has had a lot of influence from sports, like his father George H. Allen, a Hall of Fame former NFL coach. Speaking like an NFL broadcaster, he shared his views on everything he discussed, often relating them in some way to sports. For example, Allen thought that the U.S. government should work on a “level playing field, just like with sports.”
In his upcoming run for election, Allen plans to use more of his sports-like competitive approach, along with a greater emphasis on social media, to help him back into the Senate.
- The George Allen of today is a much more serious contender for the Senate than he was before.
For a look at the full video interview, check it out here!
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