Party! That's what the Republican National Convention was all about for Ohio and Kentucky Republicans.

"Every day, two or three parties," said delegate Pakkiri Rajagopal of Monfort Heights. "Ohio is No. 1 in parties."

There were parties at the New York Stock Exchange, at the Rainbow Room atop Rockefeller Center, at Central Park's Boat House.

There was a dinner cruise on the Hudson, lunch at Tavern on the Green, even at Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum - in honor of the Ohio state Legislature.

Virtually every party, as well as the breakfasts, had corporate sponsors: Ohio Board of Realtors, Altria, Fidelity Investments, Procter & Gamble, a small-business lobby group.

Ohio Democrats enjoyed the same perks at their convention in Boston. Corporate sponsors paid for breakfasts, parties and gift bags. Citizens Bank provided a "survival kit" to delegates - little fans, pens and a card noting that the bank is coming to Ohio after buying Charter One Financial.

One of the most famous parties at the convention is simply known as the "Boehner party," thrown every night until the wee hours. It's in John Boehner's honor - every event here honors some politician - and is organized by lobbyists. Boehner, a tan, chain-smoking West Chester Republican who chairs the House Education and Workforce Committee, is known in Washington for his frequent golf fund-raisers and parties, including the annual Boehner Beach Party.

Common Cause, a government watchdog group, called the conventions the "political Olympics." The competition, the group said, "is among special interests to see who can curry the most favor by giving the most money, and who can throw the biggest, most lavish parties honoring lawmakers."

But for delegates, conventions are just a chance to yak and drink and have fun.

By most accounts, the Boehner party was among the tops in town.

"That was probably the wildest party," said Ohio state Rep. Gary Cates of West Chester. "That's probably the toughest ticket in town."

What's your sign? Drivers along Interstate 75 might have been puzzled by a billboard thanking Rep. Steve Chabot, a Westwood Republican, for something he did in Alaska.

"Saving Dollars. Making Sense. THANK YOU Congressman Steve Chabot for protecting Taxpayers in the Tongass - America's Rainforest in Alaska."

A coalition of conservation groups shelled out $3,312 to keep the billboard up for a month.

"We thought it was a very visible way of thanking him on behalf of taxpayers and conservationists," said Cindy Shogan, executive director of the Alaska Wilderness League.

Earlier this summer Chabot, along with Rep. Rob Andrews, D-N.J., who also got a billboard, got the House to block a subsidy to timber companies for logging in the Tongass, a 17-million-acre rain forest in southeast Alaska.

"Eliminating this egregious corporate subsidy will save the American taxpayers millions," Chabot said.

Ms. PAC Man: Charles Sanders, the Waynesville Democrat running against GOP Rep. Rob Portman of Terrace Park, has been endorsed by the Ms. President PAC. The Sacramento-based PAC is dedicated to electing a woman president in the future - though in the meantime it will settle for a Democratic Congress and White House, according to its Web site.

E-mail cweiser@gannett.com.