It may be a much shorter convention now - but there is still much to be done in St. Paul.

First-time delegate Harold Hough of Arizona knows some are questioning whether the GOP should have even gone on with this convention, but says it has to.

"Well, there are legal procedures," Hough explained. "Obviously, we have to nominate a president and a vice president for the Republican Party."

And as a conservative Christian, Hough's thrilled with the choice of pro-life Christian Sarah Palin and the party's conservative platform.

Ken Blackwell was vice-chair of the platform committee.

"This platform is the most pro-family, most pro-life platform in the history of the GOP," Blackwell said.

As for Palin, Sandy Froman, former head of the National Rifle Association, has met her, and says she's authentic and down-to-earth. She also says Palin's reputation as a gun-toting caribou-hunter isn't all that odd in Alaska.

"The last time I was up in Alaska, the second day I was there, someone had to defend themselves against a bear that was in one of the parks in Anchorage," Froman recalled.

Some 45,000 delegates, guests, journalists and volunteers will gather, all below the world's second largest Jumbotron.

As for Hurricane Gustav, Froman says all these delegates may be here, but their hearts are on the Gulf Coast.

She said, "Many of the events that I've been going to, even just now at the beginning of the convention, we start out with a prayer for those people."