Protesters took over the story in downtown St. Paul today, overshadowing the start of the Republican National Convention. They turned out in the thousands and remained mostly peaceful. I saw some angry interactions between the pro-war and anti-war people, but nothing violent or extreme in the main organized march. The anti-war people were flipping the bird at the pro-war people and that seemed to upset them more than the conversations and confrontations I witnessed. The outbreaks that resulted in arrests were smaller splinter groups.
Visually, the protesters got pretty close to the Xcel Center despite the big black fences in the way. And the protesters put on a good show for the press with lots of powerful visuals. One woman who was barely dressed other than pearls and red body paint said she was a "deconstructed Republican."
The police force was ready, really ready, clad in serious riot gear. The incongruous scene that stands out to me was a nice local cop noticing we were struggling to find a road they weren't blocking off, so he lifted his visor and gave us some specific directions on how to get passed him in the skyway. That's Minnesota nice and our David Gillette sums it up perfectly in his cartoon.
Inside the X, the security mood was much more laid back than Denver. We got easier floor access, working our way to the Minnesota delegation. On the way, we ran into Sen. Norm Coleman who sounded pretty confident that he and Gov. Pawlenty would still get a chance to welcome the convention. Coleman said having this convention in the place often called "the house that Norm built" makes him feel like a proud papa.
