By Carl Weiser
Enquirer Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON - You might think Willis Herdman has the easiest job in politics.

He chairs the Bush-Cheney campaign in Brown County, a county that hasn't voted for a Democrat for president since 1976. President Bush clobbered Al Gore there, 61 percent to 36 percent.

But Herdman's job in this unusually close election year in an unusually important state is to squeeze even more votes out of his little county.

"Our goal this time is 70 percent," said Herdman of Fayetteville.

And that's where this week's Republican National Convention comes in.

For Ohio Republicans, the presidential campaign has been running at an October pace since April, or earlier. They've been raising money, making phone calls, holding meetings, hosting parties, knocking on doors, preparing for the endless campaign visits - stuff that traditionally waited until after Labor Day.

"This is the most intense campaign I've ever seen," said Carlos Todd, a delegate and Butler County Republican chairman. "They're just working us to death down here."

So the convention in many ways is a chance to recharge and reward the Bush sales force in Ohio.

Unlike Democrats, whose delegates were chosen partly as a result of the March 2 primary, all Republican delegates were picked by the state Republican Party.

Delegate slots were used to reward fund-raisers, party officials, and longtime volunteers. For alternate delegate Herdman, this will be his first convention - a lifelong dream.

"A convention is to charge up the troops, to get them excited, to get the troops to work even harder," said Herdman, who has been a party activist since 1956.

"It's a thrill to me. I'm 80 years old, so I don't have much time left. I figure this is the chance of a lifetime," he said.

Most of the other local party chairmen or Bush campaign leaders also will be in New York - except for Southwest Ohio chairman Mike Allen, who withdrew following his admission last week of an extramarital affair.

As at the Democratic convention, Ohioans will be coddled. They have a hotel at Times Square and their floor seats are even better than at the Democratic convention: directly front and center for the first three nights.

BY THE NUMBERS

The 2004 Republican National Convention will bring together 2,508 delegates and 2,280 alternates. Here's a look at the delegations from Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana. Delegates • Ohio: 91 • Kentucky: 46 • Indiana: 55 Alternates • Ohio: 88 • Kentucky: 43 • Indiana: 52 Delegation chairmen • Ohio: Gov. Bob Taft, Columbus. • Kentucky: Gov. Ernie Fletcher, Frankfort, and Sen. Mitch McConnell, Louisville. • Indiana: James L. Kittle Jr., state party chairman, Hamilton County, Ind. Quick facts • Youngest Ohio delegate: Gayle Young, 25, Painesville. • Oldest Ohio delegate: Martha Moore, 85, of Guernsey County. • The 179 total delegates is the most largest Ohio ever has sent to a convention. • Who'll be running the state? Ohio's delegation includes the governor, lieutenant governor, the House speaker, the Senate president and the secretary of state. (The answer: Taft, according to spokesman Orest Holubec. "It's a wonderful thing called technology.") • The Ohio delegation includes 24 members from Greater Cincinnati, almost all fund-raisers or local party and campaign officials. • The Kentucky delegation includes eight members from Northern Kentucky, including Secretary of State Trey Grayson, Boone County commissioner Cathy Flaig and Kenton County commissioner Adam Koenig. • The Indiana delegation includes one member from Greater Cincinnati, state Sen. Johnny Nugent of Lawrenceburg. --Enquirer Washington Bureau

Thursday night, President Bush will address the convention from the middle of the floor, giving front-row seats to 13 delegations, including Kentucky's. For the first three nights, the Kentucky delegates will be at the back of the floor, behind California and New York.

For Southwest Ohio, the most Republican area of the state, delegates will be urged to deliver the votes.

"People will be thanked, and we'll be encouraged to do more," said Rep. Rob Portman, a Terrace Park Republican. "It's all about turnout. Clearly, it will fall again on Southwest Ohio to make up for some of the stronger Democratic areas to the northeast."

In the 2000 election, the eight counties of Southwest Ohio provided Bush with 422,000 votes. But that was outweighed by two Cleveland-area counties, Cuyahoga and Summit, which provided 480,000 votes for Al Gore. So this time, organizers want to take no chances.

• Hamilton County supplied Bush with more votes than any other Ohio county in 2000. He won with 54 percent, but that's not enough now. "It could even get close to 60 percent," said Bruce Taylor, 52, a delegate from Green Township and vice chairman of the Hamilton County Republican Party.

• In Warren County, party chairman and alternate delegate Tom Grossman said Bush's 50,000-vote margin in 2000 won't be enough. He's shooting for a 60,000-vote margin. "We're keeping track of the two Democrats who are registered," he said, joking. "If they get near a polling place, the alarm goes off."

• In Clermont County, party chairman Tim Rudd said his goal is to boost Bush's previous 67 percent to 70 percent. If Portman hauls in 70 percent to 80 percent of the vote in Clermont County, as he often does, then Bush should, too, Rudd said.

For Kentucky delegates, the convention is a welcome change from 2000. Then, delegates from the state, which had backed President Clinton in the previous two elections, were exiled to Voorhees, N.J., an hour bus ride from the Philadelphia convention.

This time Kentuckians are housed at Times Square, a short walk to the convention hall.

"It sounds like we're going to be treated pretty well," said Boone County delegate Trey Grayson, 32, the Kentucky secretary of state. "The delegation will have a much better time socially."

The state overwhelmingly backed Bush in 2000, and unlike in Ohio, where Bush won by 3.5 percentage points, Kentucky is not considered a battleground state. Northern Kentucky counties were especially supportive of Bush, who got 69 percent of the votes in Boone County, 62 percent in Campbell County and 63 percent in Kenton County.

Aside from revving up Bush supporters, the convention also will be aimed at the few remaining swing voters.

Recent Ohio polls have shown most voters there have made up their mind, split about evenly between Bush and Democrat John Kerry. But about 4 percent remain undecided - enough to tilt the state.

Democrats are criticizing the Republican convention as an effort to mislead the public into thinking their candidate is a moderate - the same critique Republicans offered of the Democratic convention.

Major speakers include Republicans who support abortion rights, gay rights, and stem-cell research, such as California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, and New York Gov. George Pataki.

"All the people they want America to hear are the people they never listen to," Kerry strategist Tad Devine said.

The convention is also a chance to showcase down-ticket Republican candidates. Both Geoff Davis, who is running for Northern Kentucky's U.S. House seat, and Mike Sodrel, running for Southeast Indiana's seat, get a chance to speak, albeit not in prime time.

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E-mail cweiser@enquirer.com