Breitbarth won’t need to worry about figuring out how to get around the convention city, and he wants to show off the Twin Cities to fellow Republicans from around the country. Plus, as always, he’ll love hearing from an all-star lineup of Republican speakers that includes Bush, Cheney, Schwartznegger, Giuliani, Romney and more.

While Breitbarth is a long-time Republican activist, Kovaciny is a rookie.

A Bethany Lutheran College employee, Kovaciny wasn’t politically active until this year when Paul, the Texas congressman with the libertarian bent, sought the Republican nomination. Kovaciny felt Paul would return the GOP to its small-government, conservative roots, and he and other Paulites spent the cold days of January waving Ron Paul signs at busy Mankato intersections, passing literature door-to-door and organizing supporters to attend the caucuses, an event he’d never participated in previously.

Paul didn’t win in Minnesota, but he carried Blue Earth County.

Kovaciny, who’s volunteering for Republican candidates in other races, said his support for Paul appeared to keep him from being selected as a delegate to the RNC. Still, he wants to see the convention and hopes to be a delegate in the future.

For this year, he’s willing to be a volunteer — giving directions to the delegates and media members who will be swarming the Xcel for the next four days. Kovaciny will be there just for Wednesday and Thursday, working from 4 p.m. to midnight, because he’s going to attend a Paul rally and related events Monday and Tuesday.

Kovaciny sees the convention as the final lesson in his crash course in Republican politics.

“This seems like a unique opportunity, since the convention is close to home, to see how the process works all the way to the top,” he said. “... It should be quite a show.”