The list of big-name Republicans who’ve visited breakfast gatherings of the Pennsylvania delegation to the Republican National Convention show how important Donald Trump’s campaign considers the Keystone State.

House Speaker Paul Ryan stopped by on Monday. On Tuesday, Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst and Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions spoke to the group.

Ernst and Sessions were joined by a surprise speaker – Donald Trump Jr., the 38-year-old son of the billionaire presumptive nominee.

The younger Trump stressed his own ties to Pennsylvania, as a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania.

The up-close visit came hours before Trump Jr. was scheduled to join former presidential candidate Ben Carson as a keynote convention speaker Tuesday night.

Unconventional

Twists like the younger Trump’s appearance are making this year’s installment of the Republican National Convention more interesting, said former U.S. Rep. Phil English, a delegate from Pennsylvania’s 3rd Congressional District.

“So far, it’s largely been successful,” English said. “They are on track, after the first night aimed at making sharp criticism of the Democratic nominee, to make a compelling case to the American public.”

English has attended nine conventions and called this one “much more extemporized” than the others.

“Most conventions have a sterile quality to them,” he said.

This time around, he added, “They are making decisions in real-time, and I like the format. I like the messaging.”

Octogenarian miscreants

That doesn’t mean there haven’t been convention hiccups, like the thwarted bid by anti-Trumpers to force a state-by-state roll call vote on the convention rules Monday.

That effort was stymied, but it angered Trump supporters including James Klein, a delegate from Pennsylvania’s 5th Congressional District.

“There are some people so stupid, you should put them in a root cellar,” he said.

It wasn’t the only blemish delegates had to endure.

Klein was one of a group of delegates who carry firearms and brought them while visiting one of Cleveland’s top tourist draws, the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame, on Monday.

“We ended up sitting in the back of a tent with the Secret Service,” Klein said. “There we were, octogenarian miscreants.”

The delegates were allowed to visit the museum, but they had to leave their weapons outside, he said.

John Finnerty covers the Pennsylvania Statehouse for CNHI’s newspapers and websites. Reach him at jfinnerty@cnhi.com or @cnhipa on Twitter.