41.   Birch made history this week as the first leader of a gay group to address a national political convention.

42.   Bob Dole appears this week at the national convention that will finally give him his dream, the presidential nomination of his party.

43.   Both Nelson and McCollum have used the national conventions to advance their campaigns.

44.   Bob Dole predicted Saturday that Democrats would sling mud this week at their national convention in Chicago, but said his campaign team was ready for anything.

45.   A high-profile critic of the conservative takeover of the national convention, Dilday said he wants to work with both conservatives and moderates in evangelistic work.

46.   A lot that will mean when the Republicans gather for their national convention next month in San Diego.

47.   A state that accounts for one in every eight delegates to national political conventions will at last have a say in whom those conventions nominate.

48.   A vote in May, backers say, would allow the issue to be decided before the arguments become bogged down in the national political conventions.

49.   Adding to its difficulties, the Democratic Party has experienced significant setbacks in soliciting money for its national convention in Los Angeles in August.

50.   All decisions are made before delegates arrive at the national convention.