Pop Quiz! Republican delegate Ann Clemmer will miss the first two days of the GOP convention in St. Paul, Minn., because of:

A) Illness

B) Hurricane Gustav

C) Logistical problems

D) A football game

If you live in Saline County, you probably answered that one in no time.

On Tuesday, Benton and Bryant face off in their annual high school football showdown, the “Salt Bowl,” at Little Rock’s War Memorial Stadium.

It’s a must-attend event for Clemmer, a Saline County resident campaigning for the state House.

The delegate who is pledged to former presidential candidate Mike Huckabee will miss Huckabee’s address to the convention if it takes place Tuesday night as originally announced before Hurricane Gustav played havoc with the convention schedule.  About 30,000 other Saline County football fans aren’t likely to see Huckabee’s speech on TV.

The former governor probably hopes they all have TiVo.

The decision to remain in Arkansas for a couple days was an easy one for Clemmer, a political science professor at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

Her only concern now is that rains from Gustav don’t dampen the crowd and hamper her campaigning.

“The problem when you’re a candidate is you need to be five places at the same time,” she said by telephone Sunday.

She is expected to arrive in Minnesota on Wednesday.

Clemmer said her daughter faced a similar choice four years ago when, as a Bryant senior, she was invited to tag along to the GOP convention in New York City.

“She had the opportunity to go to New York for a week or go to the Salt Bowl and she said, ‘I’m going to the Salt Bowl,’” Clemmer said.

The House district Clemmer seeks to represent includes portions of both Benton and Bryant school districts. Ever the politician, Clemmer refused to say which school she’ll back Tuesday.

Clemmer faces Democrat Scott Smith in the Nov. 4 election. Both are trying to replace term-limited Rep. Janet Johnson, D-Bryant.

Arkansas delegates to the Republican National Convention were up extra early on this Labor Day holiday to kick off convention week with a breakfast in honor of former Gov. Mike Huckabee.

For Huckabee, it’s the first of about 20 speeches this week to state delegations from across the country. After the breakfast, it’s off to a luncheon with New Jersey delegates at noon.

He has a prime time convention speaking slot scheduled for Tuesday. That may change, though, as GOP officials monitor Hurricane Gustav.

The convention will operate on a truncated schedule today with only official business being conducted. If the event resumes in full Tuesday, it’s likely many speakers whose remarks were postponed today will be rescheduled then.

Thus, Huckabee’s speech may be pushed back to Wednesday, said Sarah Huckabee, his daughter and director of Huckabee’s political action committee.

Sarah Huckabee herself is the speaker at a Young Republicans’ lunch today at the Hard Rock Cafe in downtown Minneapolis.

Huckabee won the Arkansas presidential primary going away and all but two of the state’s 37 delegates are pledged to him.

The former governor endorsed presumptive presidential nominee John McCain after losing to him in the delegate race.

Media parties hosted by the Democrats and Republicans before their conventions only reinforced the stereotypes that often get attached to each party: the fun-loving Democrats with their “big tent” openness and the formal, structured GOP.

Democrats hosted media at an amusement park Aug. 23 in Denver. Guests at the free event were offered typical carnival fare like cotton candy and funnel cakes. Journalists got free access to most rides, perhaps so that they could hop on the Tilt-a-Whirl in case all the free beer didn’t make them dizzy enough.

On Saturday in Minneapolis, the Republicans treated journalists to a party at a museum and a performing arts theater. There, journalists were given hors d’oeuvres of pate, portobello mushrooms and crab sushi.

It was quite the contrast. Democrats set up picnic tables. It was pub tables for the GOP.

The one constant aside from the free-flowing food and drink? The freeloading reporters by the thousands to take advantage of it all.

The parties are a big convention week highlight for most journalists. More than a year before this year’s conventions, veteran reporters regaled this first-time convention-goer with stories about legendary media parties.The 1996 GOP party on the boardwalk in San Diego ranks among the best.

The media party is really the only time journalists can mingle with others in the profession and spend some time away from work during the always-hectic convention week. The party is traditionally held on the Saturday before a convention’s Monday start.

The threat of Hurricane Gustav prompted Republicans on Sunday to cancel most activities associated with Monday’s first day of the Republican National Convention.

GOP delegates will conduct only official business — establishing a quorum and adopting a party platform, among other parliamentary moves — on Monday. The session is expected to last about 2 hours, instead of the 7 hours that were planned.

President Bush and Vice President Cheney earlier Sunday told the convention they would not be in St. Paul, Minn., so that they could follow Gustav as it rumbled toward the Gulf Coast.

In a statement via video feed to reporters at the convention, presumptive presidential nominee John McCain said his party needed to put the welfare of America ahead of its convention.

“Of course, this is a time where we have to do away with our party politics and do what’s best for America,” McCain said from St. Louis, Mo.

Officials said they would decide “day to day” how to proceed with the rest of the convention. The only other official business that must be completed this week is the formal nomination of McCain for president and his running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, for vice president.

As thousands travel to the Twin Cities in Minnesota this weekend for the start of the Republican National Convention, GOP officials are keeping an eye on the Gulf of Mexico as Tropical Storm Gustav churns toward the coast.

Republicans could delay the convention’s start if Gustav threatens. Otherwise, Republicans may be criticized for celebrating in Minnesota during a disaster elsewhere.

One Arkansas convention delegate said she thinks Republicans should press on with their convention, regardless of what happens with Gustav.

“The world doesn’t stop revolving on its axis because we have a hurricane. Neither does the United States,” said Anne Britton of Faytteville.

Britton said she was sympathetic to those in the storm’s path, but that “we need to show the world we’re capable of doing two things at once.”

Britton has been in Minneapolis-St. Paul for almost a week already to attend GOP caucus meetings.

To Joseph Wood, a Fayetteville delegate for John McCain, that the presumptive presidential nominee is even considering a delay shows his presidential ability.

“It’s him stepping out and acting as president,” Wood said. “He’s saying, ‘Hey, this is coming. We need to be ready.’”

Here’s Mike Huckabee’s response to John McCain’s selection of Gov. Sarah Palin, R-Alaska, as his running mate:

“Sarah Palin is a pleasant surprise for those of us who had hoped that Sen. McCain would pick a principled and authentic conservative pro-life leader and Sarah Palin is. As a Governor, she also brings an important balance of understanding of the critical domestic issues that is needed and that the Democrats have ignored in their ticket.

“Gov. Palin is smart, authentic, tough, and a dynamic choice that will remind women that if they are not welcome on the Democrat’s ticket, they have a place with Republicans.”

Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor, lost his bid for the GOP nomination to the White House this year. He had been considered a contender for McCain’s VP spot.

Multiple news organizations are citing Republican sources that confirm Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska will be named this afternoon as John McCain’s running mate.

The news broke just as a cramped jet filled with weary participants from the Democratic National Convention landed in Minneapolis. Nearby St. Paul, Minn., is the site of the Republican National Convention starting Monday.

Palin took office as Alaska governor in 2006.

It was a surprise pick for McCain. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge were all considered to be on the vice-presidential “short list.”

It’s safe to say Arkansas Republicans don’t know much about their apparent vice presidential nominee from the Land of the Midnight Sun.

Long security lines meant a 3-hour wait for incoming state House Speaker Robbie Wills, D-Conway, before he got into Denver’s Invesco Field for the final night of the Democratic National Convention on Thursday.

Those Arkansans who made it into the stadium more quickly sat for hours beneath an unrelenting sun waiting for the real star of the night, presidential nominee Barack Obama.

“It was worth the wait,” Wills said.

The delegates waved American flags and posters for the duration of Obama’s acceptance speech. The Arkansas delegation sat about 40 yards to the left of the stage on the football field-turned-convention hall.

As fireworks exploded and confetti drifted down toward some of the estimated 80,000 people in attendance, Arkansan Susana O’Daniel was hard-pressed to find words to capture the moment.

“I am so overwhelmed right now,” she said.

The Washington County resident who supported Sen. Hillary Clinton said Obama correctly used the speech not only to inspire, but to offer some specifics about what he would do as president.

“It was really good to have his point-by-point layout and his plan,” O’Daniel said. “This will go a long way. Everybody is united now. Everybody.”

Karla Bradley, the first vice chairman of the state Democratic party, said the speech “was about bridging the gaps to solve problems that maybe we thought we couldn’t solve.”

“It was a departure from the cynicism we have had the past eight years,” said Bradley, also of Washington County.

One of only eight Arkansas delegates who entered the national convention as an Obama delegate was also impressed with the speech.

“I think it was right on,” said Kedrin Edgerson of Jonesboro. “I think everyone was touched by it. Everyone knows we need change and he has a plan to do it.”

The Obama campaign has a tougher task ahead in its bid to win over Natural State voters.

Spectators eager to see Barack Obama’s historic acceptance speech tonight face extremely long lines to get into Invesco Field for the event.

Six hours before Obama was expected to take the stage, a line of ticket-holders snaked more than a half-mile outside the Denver’s NFL stadium.

Security was extremely tight at the outdoor venue. Attendees passed bags through X-ray machines and stepped through metal detectors. Bottled-water drinkers were required to take a sip before they could pass through security. Presumably, that was so that law enforcement could be sure the liquid wasn’t hazardous.

More than 70,000 people are expected to attend the fourth night of the Democratic National Convention as Obama accepts his party’s presidential nomination. It marks the first time a major political party has nominated a black candidate.

Obama’s speech falls on the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech in Washington.

More than a hundred Arkansans are expected for the final night of the Democratic National Convention. The party gave the state’s delegation enough of the in-demand passes to accommodate Arkansans who are not delegates.

The state’s 47 delegates will be seated with other state delegations in prime seats on the football field.

The 5,000 or so people already in the stadium at 2:30 p.m. Mountain should have brought sunscreen. Though the temperature is pleasant (in the upper 70s) the sun is unmerciful.

The Denver Convention and Visitors Bureau warned visitors this week that the sun’s rays are 25 percent stronger in Denver than elsewhere in the country because of the region’s altitude.

Denver is exactly a mile high.

Congressional Quarterly today reported that some ethics watchdog groups criticized the Blue Dog Democrats for participating in a party Sunday in Denver on the eve of the Democratic National Convention.

A spokesman for one ethics group told the publication the “Blue Night In Denver” party was not in line with a new law that puts restrictions on lawmakers who attend a lobbyist-sponsored reception.

Rep. Mike Ross, D-Prescott, is one of the leaders of the group of fiscally conservative Democrats in the House.

He was reported saying that the House Blue Dog Coalition had nothing to do with the party.

“We paid at the door like everybody else,” Ross said.

Rep. Marion Berry, D-Gillett, is also a Blue Dog.

The Washington Post and Salon.com feature related articles.