On Background: Rising GOP Stars

P H I L A D E L P H I A, July 31 -- — The spotlights beaming down on the podium of George W. Bush’s convention are illuminating more than just the GOP’s presidential ticket. A whole new generation of Republican stars rising to leadership roles in the party will get high visibility in prime time.

Powerhouses of the GOP, including former Gen. Colin Powell and former presidential candidate John McCain, are outnumbered at the rostrum by fresh faces with messages designed to resonate with a broad spectrum of voters.

And the accent is distinctly on diversity for a party represented by convention delegates who are more than 80 percent white and 60 percent male. Condoleezza Rice, Bush’s foreign policy adviser, is a young, African-American academic. George P. Bush is the handsome nephew of the candidate with the MTV-good-looks and a prime-time slot, to address the nation in English and Spanish, at the convention’s finale.

There also are a host of “real people” who have a rare moment to share stories about the convention theme of opportunity.

“We chose to feature real people who personify the principles of George W. Bush,” convention Chairman Andrew Card told ABCNEWS.

Here’s just a sampling of each evening’s promise:

Monday

One of the first featured rising stars when the convention hits prime time is an aspiring politician. Paul Clinton Harris is an African-American elected to the same seat in the Virginia legislature once held by Thomas Jefferson. What’s more, the 36-year old Harris tells ABCNEWS his message is an up-from-poverty success story.

Raised in low-income housing by an unwed mother who put a premium on education, Harris graduated from college and law school, and he insists now that people must “not allow lower standards and lower expectations for the underpriviledged. That’s just a trap,” Harris says.

At the age of 8, Elaine Chao could not speak one word of English when her family arrived by freighter from Taiwan. Chao credits strangers in her Queens, N.Y., neighborhood for helping the family adjust. She became a banker and a protégé of Elizabeth Dole, who was secretary of transportation at the time. Chao rose to become deputy secretary.