Bob CollinsThe Massachusetts’ GOP blog writer has finally identifed the anarchists:
Protestors – not as many as they might make it seem like on TV. There were a few small groups scattered on a few street corners, but there was only one Ron Paul group that became particularly violent and force had to be used. Local police were prepared and in good force. In fact, some young demonstrators were actually asking delegates where the parties were.
Perhaps Ron Paul is posing a bigger threat to Sen. McCain in Massachusetts than elsewhere.
Brenda Goff, a delegate from Kentucky, also repeated the Ron Paul theme:
As delegates entered the area close to the Xcel Center there were minor protests. It appeared to not be more than a dozen people holding signs with comments like “God hates McCain.” As we left the Convention at the end of the day their were maybe 5 or 6 people protesting and yelling “Ron Paul.” I understand that while the convention was in session there were larger protests in the streets outside the center but our delegation was inside and was not affected.
… but enough about them, what about us, Massachusetts?
Host City – Minneapolis and St Paul are indeed the twin cities located across the river from one another but learning they distinct in their own right. Both however are clean, very metropolitan in terms of restaurants and tourist attractions. Haven’t explored them all just yet, but impressed with our welcome so far.
.. and Kentucky?
The local police and the community have been welcoming.
Virginia delegate Randy Marcus also blogged to the people back home that there weren’t that many protesters yesterday:
On the way to the convention hall, we encountered our first protestors. I don’t know how they will be perceived through the media, but it was a very small group of very animated (and irrational) people. There were more people watching the protestors than were actually protesting.
Keep in mind, of course, that the delegates are ensconced in buses that do not travel through the streets of St. Paul, and then are allowed into the security zone. Delegates don’t get much of a look at the street from their entry point.
The blog of the Cleveland Plain Dealer assesses the streets of St. Paul…
Only in America can you have hard-working individuals unite with their political friends inside a convention and solicit donations to storm victims, while outside unemployed terrorists disrupt the daily lives of tax paying citizens. The Democrats would have us believe that we need more wealth redistribution from these taxpayers to these to non-workers. The media coverage was very good at showing film clips of this violence. I did not see any acts of terror at the Democratic Convention. Is it because Republicans are more likely to spend their time working to support their families, strive to make a better life for themselves and their communities and paying high taxes while doing this rather than waste their lives protesting?
The District of Columbia delegation got a pep talk this morning, one blogger notes, to stay on message regarding the pregnancy of Sarah Palin’s daughter:
Asa Hutchinson, a former congressman from Arkansas who once headed the DEA, stopped by to speak to delegates he called “insiders.” He told them not to overreact to news that vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s teen daughter is pregnant.
“To me, its not a distraction. It’s part of the media examination,” he said
What gets talked about in those private receptions? According to one South Carolina delegate, an interstate highway connecting Michigan with the Atlantic Ocean.
While we non-Italians were painfully underdressed we soon found ourselves engrossed in wonderful conversation and enjoying some of the best Italian food that we have ever tasted! I even met a well placed Republican official who is very interested in helping make I-73 a reality in Michigan so that the interstate can, eventually, connect the great lakes, in Michigan, with the Atlantic Ocean, in South Carolina.
Why don’t you see more people walking around with their convention credentials? They’re scared to, according to a Vermont delegate.
Smart Conventioneers are not wearing their ‘credentials’ in a visible manner. We’ve been hearing stories that people will “do something not nice to you” if they see that you’re part of the convention.
For the record, I wear GOP credentials on the mean streets of the Twin Cities. So far, no problem.
Meanwhile on Twitter we get the weather report from a DC attendee:
Muggy as all hell here in ugly Minneapolis… And….it’s raining. This convention sucks.
