The Republican National Convention began Monday in Minneapolis-St. Paul. Four delegates from El Paso County, state Rep. Kent Lambert, County Clerk and Recorder Bob Balink, County Commissioner Wayne Williams and Colorado Attorney General John Suthers will be reporting on it in dispatches to The Gazette throughout the four-day convention.

The national political conventions no longer serve the purpose of selecting presidential candidates, as that’s now done through the primary process. However, the conventions now serve the dual purpose of rallying a party’s base and promoting the party’s presidential candidate to the American electorate. While it’s hard for a delegate to the convention to gauge how the speakers are impacting a television audience, I was personally pleased with the performance of Tuesday’s prime-time speakers, former Sen. Fred Thompson and Sen. Joe Lieberman. Thompson’s speech was effective in rallying the base, while Lieberman did a nice job of making the case to Democrats and independent voters. I think they did a good job of setting the stage for the vice presidential and presidential acceptance speeches.

Colorado’s status as a swing state has garnered our delegation a good deal of attention at the convention. We’re seated directly in front of the stage with other swing states such as Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Michigan. Our Colorado delegate breakfast has attracted a star-studded group of speakers. On Tuesday morning, I had the privilege of introducing first lady Laura Bush to the Colorado and Idaho delegations. Karl Rove is to speak to us today, Wednesday morning. Colorado’s importance in the election is also evidenced by the fact that both John McCain and Sarah Palin will be in Colorado Springs on Saturday, immediately after the close of the Republican convention.

In this image rendered from video and provided by ABC News, vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin stands at the podium during a walk through at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn., Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2008. (AP Photo/ABC News) Photo by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS/ABC News