Inside Pitch

Paul Whalen of Fort Thomas and his wife Teena were among 22 Kentucky delegates, guests and spouses who piled into a bus in Frankfort early Sunday morning for the long drive to Charlotte, site of the Democratic National Convention.

Whalen, who chairs the Campbell County Democratic Party, didn't seem to mind.

"Meeting a lot of nice people from around Kentucky as well as learning more about the Commonwealth,'' Whalen e-mailed from the bus.

Mary Ann Christie, the former mayor of Madeira and an alternate delegate, found tears rolling down her face as she listened to former secretary of state Condoleezza Rice speak to the Republican National Convention at the Tampa Bay Times Forum.

"I was touched by her telling her personal story, the story of her life,'' said Christie.