Convention Observations

Today I had to go to work. That takes me through the convention area, so I chose to ride the bus rather than attempt to drive. The first thing I noticed is that the most reliable bus in my home area wasn't totally reliable on the schedule. One should come at least every 15 minutes, but we waited longer than that. When the bus finally arrived, one came right behind another. The bus ride was usual until we got about 3 blocks from the Xcel Center where the convention is held. Then we were on a long detour around it. That made the usual 25 minute bus ride take almost an hour.

Coming home, the bus came on schedule. I was glad I was on the bus because it was definitely bumper to bumper traffic. Going so slow allowed me to see a few things. First I was a bit puzzled about a van that said Capitol City Police Service and had a logo obviously from Washington D.C.

Near the Minnesota Capitol area I could see a lot of tents and what looked like a minor protest being organized. A bit later we went by a bus display -- the best word I can find for it for an organization called votesmart.org. Haven't looked that up. (Oh later, I did look it up and it reminded me that this is called the Voters Self Defense Bus. The web site says it was at the Democratic convention, too. You can see a picture of the bus on the web site.)

Then we went by a huge video screen being operated by something called Vote Blue Minnesota. It is displaying pictures of politicians involved in the Abrahamoff scandal as we went by. Later this evening I learned this is sponsored by two very average Minnesota Democrats who decided they wanted to create an alternate message nearly two years ago when it was announced that the RNC would here. They spent a good part of the retirement funds to do this for four years.

A slight way later I could see down a hill to the Xcel Center and noticed a lot of tents obviously not usually there. The biggest tent had the FoxNews logo on it.

Oh, I forgot the biggest hit in town. We went by the History Theater which is being used by the Daily Show. The lines to get in there rival the convention.

One more day of this and then they leave town. I suspect it will be the last time St. Paul bids on a convention for awhile. It's a lot more trouble than its worth. Readers from elsewhere may find the best source of local news to be the Minnesota Public Radio web site: www.mpr.org

I've changed the photo to the right to the Xcel Center for a few days, so that folks elsewhere can better envision this place.

I'll add that during this ride through middle class neighborhoods and then down Summitt Avenue where the houses are over the million dollar mark I didn't see a single lawn sign for the Republican candidates. I thought certainly if anyone was supporting the McCain candidate that during the RNC they would have signs up. If you don't understand about the signs, lawn signs are a big thing in Minnesota, something I really don't like about Minnesota. I don't like anyone put a lawn sign on my property.