They are mockingly called Chamber of Commerce introductions, those short, laudatory passages about home-state glories given before the casting of roll call votes at political conventions.

In them, anyone listening on the telecasts, a vast minority of Americans, gets a reminder of elementary-school geography lessons, such as Hawaii being the Aloha State (do people confuse that with one of the Dakotas?) and Idaho having a good climate for potatoes.

The recitations are time-honored and harmless, if not always brief.

And they are sometimes illustrative of an individual state’s political climate.

At last week’s Democratic National Convention, Jay Nixon, the party’s candidate for Missouri governor, made the introduction. Not to be outdone, Missouri Republicans let their candidate for the state’s top job, Congressman Kenny Hulshof, have the microphone in St. Paul.

Here’s what he had to say:

Missouri is America’s bellwether state because we believe that actions are more important than words and meaningful actions require political courage. In the Show Me State, we believe that political courage is the only way to make true reform, and you do that by standing up for what is right. Our nominee is the perfect embodiment of that political courage. As our state’s gubernatorial nominee, a reformer, I’m proud to say that Missouri casts all 58 votes for the next president of the United States, John McCain.

Over Mr. Hulshof’s left shoulder, in network camera range but a couple of layers back, was Gov. Matt Blunt, who earlier this year decided not to seek a second term. As chief executive, he is still supposedly the head of the state Republican Party. But his election-year abdication pushed the GOP leader down the ladder. That happens in politics. Out with the old, in with the new.