The Republican Party opened its 39th national convention here on Monday.
The following is a snapshot of the quadrennial event this year.
The four-day event is held at the Exel Center, a hockey arena in downtown Saint Paul with more than 45,000 attendees, which include party delegates, party officials, media staff and guests.
The main purpose or official business of the 2008 convention is to officially nominate Senator John McCain as the party's presidential candidate and Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as vice presidential candidate. McCain's acceptance speech, set for prime time on Thursday evening, is believed to be among the most critical events of his campaign for the White House.
The convention is also expected to adopt a new party platform which outlines the party's positions on major issues for the coming presidential elections.
The convention is organized under the overall theme, "Country First," which is designed to reflect or highlight John McCain's record of leadership and service to America. Each day of proceedings is originally scheduled to focus on a touchstone theme: Service, Reform, Prosperity and Peace separately.
But as Hurricane Gustav approached the Gulf Coast region, Senator McCain ordered on Sunday the convention organizers to scale down the planned programs except official business. Most of the speechmaking, celebrations and other festivities of the gathering have been curtailed in response to a looming natural disaster.
Source:Xinhua
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