It was Ladies Night at the Republican National Convention. Only, there weren't quite so many ladies.

Florida Republican Party Chairman Jim Greer had an inspired idea to celebrate Sarah Palin's historic speech accepting the vice presidential nomination: The male Florida delegates would give up their seats so women could flood the zone on the convention floor.

Between the 225 delegates and alternates, surely there would be roughly enough women to fill Florida's 114 seats on the floor.

Not even close.

Only 67 of the 225 delegates from Florida were female. Thank goodness many of the male delegates had brought their wives and daughters; otherwise, the state would have had to import women from the neighboring section for the Virgin Islands.

Adding to the irony were the rhinestone ''54%'' pins that several female delegates proudly wore on their lapels to reflect their outsized influence on the electorate. Among Florida's Republican delegation, ''29.8%'' is more like it.

Greer didn't seem chagrined when asked about the delegation's lack of diversity. Of the 225 delegates, about 2 percent were African American, 8 percent were Hispanic. (Sixty-three delegates didn't specify, so it's possible minority participation was slightly higher. Blacks and Hispanics make up roughly 36 percent of Florida's population.)

''At the end of the day, we have good delegates to the convention -- black, Hispanic, white, female -- and it is my hope that we will see an increase in those voting blocs,'' Greer said. ``It cannot obsess your day. . . . I just never agreed with this percentage thing.''

In contrast, the Florida Democratic Party sent its most diverse delegation ever to the 2008 convention: 9 percent Hispanic, 23 percent African American and 2 percent Asian or Native American. More than half were female.

If the Republican Party is wondering how to gain ground among women and minorities, making a bigger effort to include them in the Super Bowl of political events is a good place to start.

That is not to say Greer hasn't tried. The Florida GOP created ''leadership councils'' to recruit black and Hispanic activists and held its first convention for black Republicans last year.

Pointing to the convention tags around his neck, Lorin Jones, a 42-year-old black delegate from Orlando, said, ``I still have concerns that without these credentials, am I just another black person working at this hotel, or am I part of the party?''

Putting a woman on the ticket was an extraordinary step toward demonstrating that the GOP isn't just for white men, and one that the Democratic Party has shamefully done only once.

But as Democrat Barack Obama likes to say, change comes from the bottom up. While the United States is getting more and more diverse, the Republican convention is growing paler and maler.

Still another sign that the reserved seating for women on the convention floor was just for show was the nearly all-male lineup of speakers to the Florida delegation. Over four days of breakfasts, luncheons and afternoon receptions, the entire roster was men -- with the exception of national committeewoman Sharon Day and Greer's wife, who spoke at the luncheon ''honoring Florida's Republican women.'' The speakers included politically incorrect pollster Frank Luntz, who noted that the Clintons chose to live in Chappaqua, N.Y. 'Chappaqua is Indian for `separate bedrooms,' '' he said.

Ugh. Women may have scored some of the best seats in the house, but they were too few and far between on the floor and the stage.

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