51.   The tone of the weekend made the gathering indistinguishable from a party nominating convention.

52.   There was a time, not so many years ago, when political nominating conventions could be thrilling.

53.   Then came the modern presidential nominating conventions.

54.   Then he flies to California, which sends the largest number of delegates to the presidential nominating convention.

55.   Verney said the party hopes to have a nominating convention around Labor Day.

56.   Where and when the party will hold its nominating convention?

57.   Why are NBC, CBS and ABC inclined to wash their hands of this great American tradition, the presidential nominating convention?

58.   With his speech, Kolbe arguably became the most prominent openly gay Republican to ever address a GOP nominating convention.

59.   Yet they also are the advance guard of political women who will be presiding over their own nominating conventions in the next century.

60.   Or it could evolve into a narrowed but still-muddled race going into an unusually late nominating convention.