Arkansas Republicans got the chance to party Tuesday, essentially for the first time during the GOP convention, at a concert at a swanky Minneapolis night club.

The party hosted by Mike Huckabee’s political action committee featured music by country star Josh Turner and by Huckabee’s Arkansas-based band. Huckabee plays bass guitar.

The band, “Capitol Offense,”  wasn’t all that offensive. But here’s a note to band members: following “Freebird” with “Louie, Louie” is a good way to clear the room for the night.

For many Arkansans, it was their first night on the town in the Twin Cities since arriving over the weekend. The threat of Hurricane Gustav on Monday prompted scores of event cancellations that day. The Republican National Convention resumed a full schedule Tuesday.

Huckabee’s political fundraising organization, HuckPAC, rented out the club for the night. Other sponsors of the party were Arkansas-based companies Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Murphy Oil.

The club featured an air of exclusivity. Ticket-holders had to pass through a line of velvet ropes to get into the building. Another set of velvet ropes inside separated those in the “VIP room” from the masses. Bouncers wore suits and Secret Service-style earpieces.

It looked to be the trendiest club on that block. Across the street was a strip joint called “Augie’s” and a store, the “Adult Boutique.”

It may well have been the first time the club rented by Huckabee, called “Spin,” had country music bounce off its walls. Upcoming acts include hip-hop star Li’l John (billed as “The King of Crunk”) and a DJ, Wes Nobles (who will apparently be “back by popular demand.”

Visitors were in equal part impressed or befuddled by the club’s restrooms, which had transparent glass doors that frosted over when the doors were locked. Some untrusting guests tried the lock several times just to make sure the door became translucent before they went about their business.

Late into the party, one man didn’t turn the lock at all. Aside from the “Freebird”-”Louie, Louie” double play, that was another sign it was time to call it a night.

The late Win Rockefeller of Arkansas was left off a video tribute to prominent Republicans who died over the past four years.

The memorial was shown just before the start of the Republican National Convention’s evening session.

Mentioned were congressmen and party officials who have died since Republicans last met in 2004.

Rockefeller had the credentials to belong on the list.

He was the state’s lieutenant governor for a decade and was a key figure in Republican politics.

He was a noted philanthropist. Fortune magazine estimated his wealth at $1.2 billion.

Rockefeller died July 15, 2006, at age 57.

Mike Huckabee will not speak as scheduled tonight at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn.

Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor, was booted from his prime time speaking slot as the GOP retooled  its convention schedule. Most events Monday were canceled because of Hurricane Gustav.

Huckabee’s speech is likely now Wednesday.

Tonight’s events kick off at 6 p.m. Speakers will include President Bush, via satellite, and First Lady Laura Bush.

Sen. Joe Lieberman is on the schedule. The independent from Connecticut aligns with Democrats in the Senate and was the Democratic nominee for vice president in 2000.

Also on the agenda is former Sen. Fred Thompson of Tennessee, who like Huckabee lost a bid this year to be GOP presidential nominee.

“Us Southern Baptists are goin’ honky-tonkin’!” — Dorothy Crockett of Osceola, a teetotaler who nevertheless is headed to the Arkansas delegation party tonight to hear Mike Huckabee’s band, “Capitol Offense.”

Crockett is a Huckabee delegate to the Republican National Convention.

The party is at Spin night club, a downtown Minneapolis venue that probably has never before been referred to as a honky tonk.

The two or three (or what sometimes seems like 100) security fences and checkpoints surrounding the Xcel Energy Center tend to buffer convention-goers from contact with the hundreds of protesters in the streets of the Twin Cities.

On Monday, though, members of the Alabama delegation got an unwelcome surprise through the window of their shuttle bus.

About 300 people were arrested during demonstrations in St. Paul on Monday.

Arkansas delegates passed a few nonviolent protesters on the way to the convention site.

Inside the hall, the atmosphere was almost somber as delegates convened for official business only. Aside from a convention floor loaded with delegates, hardly anyone else was in the building. Seats reserved for press were mostly empty and the upper tier of the building looked vacant.

It was almost as if, aside from delegates, others were enjoying an extended weekend.

Oh. Wait. They were. Monday was Labor Day.

Perhaps activity in the hall will pick up and violence outside the hall will die down on the convention’s second day.

The Republican National Convention is expected to be back on script today after Monday’s opening session was cut to just two hours because of Hurricane Gustav.

Delegates to the convention in St. Paul, Minn., conducted only official business Monday. The only speakers were First Lady Laura Bush and Cindy McCain, wife of presumptive presidential nominee John McCain. They both implored delegates to help the hurricane recovery effort.

The convention’s first-day activities were over by 5 p.m., in plenty of time for delegates to catch the “early bird” special at a local restaurant and get in bed by, oh, 8 p.m. or so if they wanted.

Arkansans made the most of their evening with trips to the Mall of America, the gigantic shopping mall just a few blocks from the delegation hotel in Bloomington, Minn. Some took the chance to watch college football at the hotel bar.

With nothing scheduled for delegates during the day today, either, a few Arkansans planned to attend a policy forum sponsored by former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich of Georgia.

Convention officials were expected to announce tonight’s line-up by mid-morning.

The Associated Press reported that President Bush is expected to make remarks to delegates via satellite this evening. Bush canceled plans to speak Monday because of the hurricane.

It remained uncertain whether former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee would speak tonight as planned. Huckabee’s speech could possibly get pushed back to Wednesday.

Of course Mike Huckabee brought his bass guitar to the Twin Cities.

Huckabee, who brought out his guitar frequently on the campaign trail this year will strum a few lines with his Arkansas-based band Tuesday at a party for the Arkansas delegation to the Republican National Committee.

The former governor is known about as much for his musical interests as he is for his crusade for weight loss and better eating habits.

But it’s his party, so he’ll play if he wants to — the event is sponsored by Huckabee’s political action committee. Arkansas-based Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. and Murphy Oil Co. are also sponsoring the event.

Other musical guests include country singer Josh Turner and Jeff Cook, a founding member of the group Alabama.

The party lasts from 10 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. at Spin night club in downtown Minneapolis.

Huckabee said Monday the party would serve as a fundraiser for hurricane relief efforts.

Conservative politician Gary Bauer was among the prominent John McCain supporters who spoke to Arkansas delegates to the Republican National Convention this morning.

He had high praise for the failed presidential campaign of former Gov. Mike Huckabee. Bauer, who ran for president himself in 2000, applauded Huckabee for beating pundits’ expectations and said he was “looking forward to the role Gov. Huckabee is going to play in the administration of the next president of the United States.”

Bauer hasn’t always been so laudatory.

Last December, he slammed Huckabee for his immigration stance. In an e-mail to supporters, he linked Huckabee to longtime right-wing nemesis Hillary Clinton. He said GOP candidates who are soft on illegal immigration would have difficulty distinguishing themselves from Clinton.

And last October, he said this to Stephens Media in response to a question about Mike Huckabee’s fundraising ability:

“For better or worse, in American politics you can’t get your message out without a lot of money, and so far (Mike Huckabee) has not been able to show much movement in that area.”

His response today, about 10 months later:

“I never once said he doesn’t have enough money.”

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.