GOP CONVENTION NOTEBOOK

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - The 17 Republicans representing Nevada at the GOP
convention include a black Pentecostal preacher, a brain surgeon and a
former prosecutor who battled a notorious brothel kingpin.

Not to mention the ex-state GOP chairman who played in the '60s band that
recorded the hit ``Wipe Out'' or the national committeewoman who once
modeled and taught charm classes but is now a member of the Douglas County
sheriff's mounted posse.

Sure, there are the typical politicians in the group, including Gov. Kenny
Guinn, Rep. Jim Gibbons and former Rep. John Ensign. But there also are
amateurs excited about being a part of history.

``When you consider how small Nevada is, when you compare it to Texas, or
Florida or California, the odds of just-regular folks like myself being
elected as a delegate are slim,'' said Mike Weber, a conservative activist
who works as a technical coordinator in Reno.

State Sen. Maurice Washington from Sparks is an ordained minister and one
of the delegation's two black members. Former Lt. Gov. Lonnie Hammargren is
a brain surgeon in Las Vegas.

State Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio once did battle as Washoe County
district attorney with Joe Conforte, the former Mustang Ranch bordello
owner now on the lam in South America.

Past Nevada GOP chairman John Mason, an entertainment lawyer who lives in
Lake Tahoe, was a member of the Surfaris, which had that hit with the
famous drum solo, ``Wipe Out.''

National Committeewoman Beverly Willard of Jacks Valley was named Model of
the Year by the World Modeling Association in 1975 and went to New York to
teach runway techniques to professional models. She later taught charm and
etiquette classes to children and adults and worked as a fashion editor.

``Life gets boring if you stick to the same old things,'' Willard said.

Mrs. Willard and her husband are part of the mounted posse. It does not
actually chase down bank robbers like the old days, but it does help with
crowd control at big events and searches for missing people in the rugged
terr ain around Tahoe.

Drew Wrigley is back for a week on the streets he once walked daily, when
he went to work with a badge and a pistol.

Wrigley, director of North Dakota's Republican Party, spent five years in
Philadelphia as an assistant district attorney. The Fargo, N.D., native
prosecuted people accused of robbery, rape, drug dealing and assorted other
crimes.

His familiarity with the city has made him an unofficial guide for North
Dakota delegates to the Republican National Convention.

``It's a great advantage to have someone along who has lived (in
Philadelphia) as long as he did,'' said Carter Wood, an alternate delegate.

In North Dakota's GOP headquarters in Bismarck, Wrigley keeps a plaque,
with his badge affixed, engraved with praise from his former co-workers:
``Our loss is North Dakota's gain.''

Maryland lawmaker Don Murphy has an idea for how his fellow Republicans can
put a kinder, gentler face on the GOP: Join his crusade to legalize medical
marijuana.

``This is compassionate. This is conservative. It's everything George Bush
talks about,'' said Murphy, a convention delegate.

Murphy has become the Maryland Legislature's leading advocate for a medical
marijuana law that would allow doctors to recommend pot as a palliative to
patients with cancer, AIDS and other conditions.

As he makes the rounds of parties, rallies and receptions at the
convention, Murphy plans to drop medical marijuana into the conversations.
He expects to get a few strange looks. Many Republicans say medical
marijuana is a backdoor to legalization and feel it erodes the war on drugs.

Ellen Sauerbrey, who chairs Maryland's delegation, believes medical
marijuana is not a convention issue.

``That is a very contentious issue,'' said Sauerbrey. ``Frankly, I think
that we have a great desire to focus our attention on issues that unite us,
not the ones that divide us.''