Behind the Curtain at the RNC
I arrived in Minneapolis yesterday for the convention. Smooth flight, easy shuttles, and very friendly people both here in our host cities and from around the country. Those watching the convention coverage at home already You've likely heard about Gov Palin's daughter and her circumstances. The feeling here is that this is a family matter and not deserving of the media grilling it is getting. You also know that First Lady Laura Bush and soon-to-be-first-lady Cindy McCain made great speeches. You also know that the RNC decided to cancel the evenings actitivies in light of the gulf coast crisis. So instead, how about a sneak peak at to what happens behind the scenes what things are like in and around the convention?
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.
Organization - very well done by the RNC and by our own State Party led by Peter Torkildsen and Rob Willington. We're meeting as a delegation each morning, arriving together and on time for the sessions.
Venue - Xcel Energy Center - perhaps a bit smaller than some previous venues, but simple, impressive stage and good seating for all. Easy to get around and we're all having fun meeting people from other states. A fellow delegate and I went around to our native states of NJ and PA and met the party chairmans and even former Gov. Tom Kean who has MA roots!
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.
In lieu of the convention activities for the evening, we attended a reception for the American Red Cross that benefited those along the gulf coast. We thought that was a fitting way to spend our time. No matter how caught up in the political activities of the day,we still remember as the convention theme reminds us "Country First."
michelle obama's speech was beyond a shadow of a doubt much better than anything either ms. mccain or ms. bush said last night. those two were plastic while ms. obama was intimate and enlightening. in fact, i doubt we'll see any republican give a speech comparable to ms. obama's.
You should actually try sending reporters to the scene rather than hacking together the article you would like to see. The protesters who were arrested as the result of violence were all Leftist anti-war protestors. Paul's people are mostly libertarians, who categorically believe in the non-initiation of force principal. You can be certain it wasn't they who were slashing tires and breaking windows. If Paul's people believed that way, they'd be voting for McCain or Obama instead.
so... 10,000 people marching against the war is "a few small groups scattered on a few street corners"?
Do you have anydesire to report events, or are you just a GOP cheerleader posing as a journalist?
Violent Ron Paul supporters? I think not.
Interesting article, but it was not a "Ron Paul" group that got out of hand. This misinformation should not be left unrecognized.
"but there was only one Ron Paul group that became particularly violent and force had to be used"
Oh, nonsense. Ron Paul groups don't 'become violent'. The riot aspects were by those trying to cause trouble and incite something, anarchists wearing black and some with gas masks and bandanas, per news reports. Nice try at a slur of the movement, though.
Is that part of 'Country First'?
This article should be taken down and corrected.
You should also apologize to the Ron Paul supports.
I guess you weren't really there, huh Daniellle? Or maybe you were up in your hotel room looking down one side of one street. And, from that you drew your bogus conclusion that there were no protesters. Ha! Here we have the big John-McCain-style lie coming at us again! You are so typical of main stream media trying to "down play" the truth. But, as usual, nothing could be farther from the truth! In fact, Minneapolis and the streets, parks and open areas around the RNC were literally teeming with protestors. The police were having a conniption fit! There were thousands of protestors, everywhere!
But it's understandable, Danielle, you're paid to say whatever old John McDope and his spin doctors want you to say. But again, your reported assessment of the situation at and around the Minneapolis RNC is so patently false that it defies belief. Do the brainwashed and paid-off mainstream media people never shink from just plain old lying?
Wow Danielle. Let's try to use some facts. Just here and there ought to do, nothing crazy. We don't want people to think you're not biased.
Nice try at assaulting the character of those of us who believe in liberty and the Constitution. It's pretty funny how truly afraid ya'll are of us:)
According to our sources, not ONE Ron Paul supporter was involved in ANY violence and/or arrest. Boston Globe, prove your accusations or print a retraction! I bet you'll do neither which will prove you are nothing but a propaganda rag useful only to line the bottom of a bird cage.
Dan Druck
Druck for Congress
Illinois' 14th CD
www.TimeForDan.com
"only one Ron Paul group that became particularly violent and force had to be used" Give me a break! Didn't you get the MSM talking points memo not to lie about Ron Paul and his supporters- only ignore them? The violence was from a handful of far-left fringe group members, with probable assistance from agents provacateurs from "fatherland Security' to use as an excuse to discourage, detain and intimidate legitimate protesters. Just ask the Montreal Police and the RCMP about their involvement in the G8 protests.
True Republican libertarians like Ron Paul supporters would NEVER riot- it's against their basic principles of respect for the rights of others. However, it appears that The local, state and Federal law enforcement authorities don't share that respect for civil rights and basic freedoms; witness the pre-emptive arrests and harassment of legitimate protesters and even MEDIA groups!
Of course, fringe violence (many times incited by the authorities) has been used throughout history to abuse and eliminate the rights of those who woish to peacefully protest and document news events. You don't have to agree with the protesters, and those who turn violent SHOULD be arrested. But to paint all those who protest with the same brush and to use a small minority's actions to try and justify abrogation of basic Constitutionally-guraranteed liberties for everyone is patently un-American.
It is getting harder and harder to recognize the America I grew up in, as it more and more resembles a repressive corporate-controlled police state. By the way, I am a lifelong Republican, and I hardly recognize my own party anymore- and find it's policies and platform virtually indistinguishable from the Democrats. We seem to have devolved into a on-party government, with two wings playing off minor differences as significant. All the while pushing for the same expansionist, oppressive liberty-crushing confiscatory economic policies that are driving the American people into slavery and ruin.
xtrabiggg
+++++++++++++++++++++
"You've likely heard about Gov Palin's daughter and her circumstances. The feeling here is that this is a family matter and not deserving of the media grilling it is getting."
Imagine if it was Obama's underage daughter: we'd be burning him at the stake. Palin's character is an obscured mystery still, and as a Republican I truly believe she & her family have a LOT of media scrutiny to catch up on.
I wonder how many of those violence inciters are really agent provocateurs employed by the police. It's the oldest trick in the book.
Danielle, you spin like a top. This piece smells.
Violent Ron Paul supporters? I don't believe you.
The delegates are in no position to assess the protests. They're NOWHERE near the shielded entrances and exits to the Xcel Energy Center, which the delegates take from the comfort of their busses, which shuttle them from their hotel , which is not in St. Paul, via a route that also doesn't take them through the heart of downtown.
From my vantage point -- as a journalist walking the streets of downtown -- delegates are not walking around the city (only 5 delegations are actually housed IN St. Paul ) and most of their observations I'm reading on blogs around the country are closer to they message they want the people back home to hear
.
This blogger might want to review your comment before posting it.
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