31.   But some delegates were less optimistic and said Clinton was skirting vital issues.

32.   But these delegates are something else.

33.   But will the delegates be so bound to that ideology that they would turn down someone who looks like a winner?

34.   California delegates were popping gingko-biloba capsules to stay alert.

35.   Clinton said all the right things about Gore, but the delegates were interested only in thanking the leader they already knew.

36.   Cook and Vedrine rejected suggestions that the international community was imposing a settlement in Kosovo, and that the delegates are being asked to rubber-stamp something already drawn up.

37.   Convention centers are notorious for bad acoustics, and most convention delegates are far too busy talking to listen to someone else.

38.   Critics contend that the committee could even become more insular with so-called term limits, because delegates might be reluctant to agitate their colleagues and risk not being re-elected.

39.   Delegates were equally puzzled when asked to name two of the four professional sports teams that play in Staples Center, the sparkling new arena they were standing inside.

40.   Democratic delegates were much closer to public attitudes than Republican delegates on questions of increasing safety and environmental regulation of business and requiring trigger locks on handguns.