Mark Lundberg, a delegate from heavily Republican Sioux County, said the selection of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as McCain's VP was "truly a remarkable pick" that would help motivate the party's conservative base.

"Some of the conservative voters had some concern about John McCain and this just reinforces their support from the conservative wing of the party for the ticket," he said from the floor of the Minneapolis Convention Center during the delegate welcoming event Sunday night.

Anecdotally, the state Republican Party reported a noticeable uptick in callers offering to donate or volunteer after they heard about the Palin pick on Friday.

Tim Demuth, an at-large delegate from Coralville, said Palin helped to reinforce McCain's message of bringing change to Washington and fighting wasteful spending.

"It's an excellent pick to show that John McCain is still the maverick. Washington hasn't changed him," Demuth said. "Bringing her in -- not from Washington -- reinforces that John McCain is the real agent of change, if that's what this election is going to be about."

Demuth also talked about the way the convention was changing in the face of Hurricane Gustav hitting the Gulf Coast. He said the thoughts and prayers of the convention attendees would be with the people in the path of the hurricane.

"We understand that we're in the midst, unfortunately, of another crisis," Demuth said. "It's unfortunate that folks like [Florida Gov. Charlie] Crist and [La. Gov.] Bobby Jindal -- rising stars within our party -- aren't going to be able to make it, but they're needed elsewhere."

Lundberg said he would have liked to have seen President George W. Bush at the convention, but that he understood the decision to slim down the schedule.

"It would have been wonderful to have President Bush kick off the convention on Monday night, kind of saying goodbye to everybody, but obviously they have more pressing issues," Lundberg said.

-- By Mike Schramm

Labels: RNC2008