Nothing Will Go Unnoticed

Jo Ann Davidson might not have a seat precisely in the front row at the Republican convention when John McCain officially accepts his party’s nomination, but she surely will be within reach.

As an officer of the Republican National Committee, she’ll be seated in a special front section at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn., close enough to see the candidate’s eyes without help from the huge television screens in the background.

She can’t wait.

“The highlight will be Sen. McCain’s speech Thursday night,” she says from St. Paul, where she is helping to set up the convention venue and arrange activities for the delegates while waiting for a pre-convention RNC meeting. “I’m going to be close.”

She’s especially pleased that the convention setting includes a low-rise podium, enabling McCain to better connect with the thousands of delegates and alternates who will flood the hall. The candidate is known to delight in a town meeting format of speaking. Even the portion of the crowd in the cheap seats should have a good view.

On Monday, the convention floor officially opens. “I can’t wait to see the hall all dressed up for the delegates,” she says. The highlight for Davidson is an invitation to all delegates to explore an exhibit highlighting the history of the White House. Perhaps, Davidson says, seeing what the delegates are working toward will inspire them in their efforts to elect McCain.

Davidson, 80, has a busy week ahead of her, attending Ohio delegation meetings and social functions as well as participating in quadrennial RNC meetings. She is one of the few who will be present gavel-to-gavel on the floor, from the afternoon sessions where less notable speakers have their turns at the podium to the raucous evening events complete with balloons, placards and music.

As chairwoman of the committee on arrangements, Davidson will get to make a short speech on Monday officially welcoming the delegates to the convention. She expects all of the evening sessions to be special, each geared to a theme taken from McCain’s campaign, including service, reform, prosperity and peace.

The convention veteran refuses to point to any speaker as her favorite, though she does hope Arnold Schwarzenegger will be there. The California governor is slated to give a speech on Monday, Sept. 1, but he and state lawmakers have been in a two-month stalemate over the state budget. If a spending plan isn’t completed by Labor Day, he has said, he won’t attend the convention.

Even if Schwarzenegger doesn’t make it to St. Paul, Davidson says, there will be plenty of wonderful rhetoric at the convention. “I’ve heard most of them speaking on the campaign,” she says. “I think they’re all going to be great.”

Elaine S. Povich is a freelance writer who covers politics.