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Now it's their turn.

After a long and divisive primary season and a week dominated by media attention on the Democratic National Convention, Republicans are descending on the Twin Cities today to nominate Arizona Sen. John McCain as their presidential candidate.

For Arizona delegates, the Republican National Convention takes on a special meaning. It's the first time since 1964 — when Republican Arizona Sen. Barry Goldwater challenged President Lyndon B. Johnson — that an Arizonan has appeared on a national party ticket.

But in actuality, Republicans are hoping this isn't a repeat of 1964, when Johnson swept the country and Goldwater won just five states, including Arizona.

And Republicans, who have been crippled by President Bush's low popularity numbers and an energized Democratic Party, say McCain's Friday announcement of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his vice presidential running mate has pumped a level of excitement into the race that was lacking until now.

"Never underestimate John McCain, because just when you think you've got him figured out, you're wrong," said Linda White, a Tucson delegate who arrived at her hotel in St. Paul on Friday afternoon.

White, former executive director of the Pima County Republican Party, learned of the pick from the flight attendant on her flight from Arizona. It's historic, she said — the first time a woman will be on a national Republican Party ticket.

"Once the convention begins, you'll see it," White said of the party's excitement. "It's been a really long primary, a really long road."

White and others say the choice — though viewed as a potential gamble by many strategists and pundits — has pumped energy into the party base as the convention is set to unfold.

And that, some say, was urgently needed even though McCain has stayed competitive with Barack Obama in polling.

"I think she's an amazing pick," said state Rep. Jonathan Paton, a Tucson delegate. "I was secretly hoping she would be the pick and not someone just, kind of, boring. She's got a record of reform, and that is exactly what our party needs to be about."

Palin's impact on the greater electorate is still unknown. Her résumé is short: Just two years as governor. But she's also the only person on either ticket with executive experience.

She brings an outside-Washington persona to an election that's about change. But she's so different — a working mom and newcomer to the national stage — that how she's received in the months ahead will be a new political experiment for the country.

Still, Palin has clearly pleased a Republican base that was skeptical of McCain on social issues — she's strongly anti-abortion.

For female Republicans, Palin's selection is particularly meaningful.

"It's about time," said Margaret Kenski, a Republican pollster in Tucson. "You've got a competent governor, you've got a working mother. It reinforces the image of McCain that was prevalent before the Democrats tried to paint him as more of Bush."

And that's the McCain that longtime friends and supporters in Arizona are hoping to portray at the GOP convention scheduled for this week, though Hurricane Gustav could throw some cold water on the festivities.

When he arrived in Arizona 27 years ago to run for Congress, McCain was tagged a carpetbagger by people in his own party. Now state Republicans take great pride in calling McCain their senior senator — despite a record that has often put him at odds with his party.

"Having a native son running for president with a real possibility of winning, I think Arizona has got to take a lot of pride in that," said Jim Warring, a Phoenix-area state senator who worked as an aide to McCain after his first bid for president in 2000.

Much of the attention over the past several weeks has been on the Democrats' struggles to unite the Obama and Hillary Clinton camps, but coming out of a crowded Republican primary, the GOP initially had an even larger task at hand.

Tucsonan Mike Hellon, a delegate and McCain supporter dating to the early '80s, spent months making sure that delegates elected from Arizona were pro-McCain, looking to avoid an embarrassment. The efforts culminated in May, when state Republicans met in Mesa and elected a campaign-approved slate despite some attempts by activists to derail the process.

This week, those Arizona delegates will get prime seating and ample media attention, Hellon said.

"The visuals of this convention are going to be striking," said Hellon, who has been to every Republican convention since 1976. "You'll see a set backdrop that is probably more carefully designed for visual impact than you've ever seen before."

As for the party's energy this cycle, Hellon pointed to the friction between Obama and Clinton supporters, which the Dem-ocrats seemed to successfully smooth over, at least publicly, last week.

"Everybody in our convention hall is going to be enthusiastic for John McCain," Hellon said. "That wasn't the case in Denver. It's clear there's a sizable contingent of Hillary Clinton supporters who are going along, but they're not happy about it."

But while Arizona Republicans — from Sen. Jon Kyl on down — are relishing McCain's national moment, not everyone is thrilled about this Arizonan potentially heading to the White House.

In her speech at the Democratic National Convention last week, Gov. Janet Napolitano gave a little history lesson to those in attendance, pointing to Arizonans who have unsuccessfully run for president: Goldwater, Mo Udall and Bruce Babbitt.

And then she added: "Speaking for myself, and for at least this coming election, this is one Arizona tradition I'd like to see continue."