CLEVELAND -- After decades of political activism, Republican Party of Arkansas Chairman Doyle Webb finally had his moment on the national stage.
At the Republican National Convention, he strode onto the platform and delivered the credentials report in front of thousands of fellow partisans.
It was a formality, but an important one. The convention can't proceed with the nomination until a permanent list of delegates has been approved.
So Monday afternoon, when the announcer summoned "Doyle Webb ... from the great state of Arkansas," Webb stepped to the microphone and delivered a message that he knew would elicit applause: "It is my honor to certify the delegates and alternates of this convention who will serve to nominate the next president of the United States, Donald J. Trump."
Organizers, eager to avoid glitches, had typed out the sentence; all Webb had to do was read it.
It was the first time he'd ever used a teleprompter and the words stopped scrolling down while the crowd roared its approval.
Fifteen seconds later, the applause faded and he finished his ceremonial task.
"That may appear to be a short walk from the door out to the lectern, but it's an exhilarating walk as you see all the people," he said later.
Webb, who has attended 10 GOP conventions, said Monday's appearance was one of the highlights.
"It would be up there with hearing Ronald Reagan when I was 25 give his acceptance speech and this little-known singer called Lee Greenwood sing, 'I'm proud to be an American.'"
Arkansans cheered for their chairman and expressed pride that he'd been given a chance to address the convention.
"That's a lot of positive exposure for the state of Arkansas," said James Pierce of Fort Smith, after ticking off the names of Webb and four other Natural State residents who were allocated microphone time. "I don't know about doing the number crunching, but I think we probably had more people talk from Arkansas than from any other single state."