nice work. the only thing i prefer when someone's at a podium is to get a shot of them gesturing, rather than gripping (it makes for a little more dynamic photo).
Boring, undramatic (though quite some well caught emotion), well composed, nicely lit, well focused and absolutely fits the challenge ... I'm scoring it highly and I hope the other DP'ers don't get blown away by some of the other good more dramatic photos that all the same wouldn't make the newspapers
Nice journalistic shot. I would have focused more on the governor, the flag and the security words... with a title like Governor speech on National security :-)