Being the host city of the convention sucked

In My Humble Opinion
1

This is the first time I’ve ever been in the host city for a big political convention. After seeing it I can say without hesitation that I hope it never happens again. This was supposed to be a big opportunity for The Cities to step up on a national stage and so forth, but this is the way I see it winners and losers wise…

LOSERS

The City of St. Paul: Always battling with bigger, hipper Minneapolis it was St. Paul’s turn to shine. Instead, numerous people referred to the convention in Minneapolis, including Governor Pawlenty and Rep. Michelle Bachman who lives in a St. Paul suburb. Plus traffic in the city was a mess for about two weeks.

The Republican Party: This was supposed to be the event that would end Minnesota’s 36-year run of Democratic victories. How was that supposed to happen? There was no outreach at to the local community. Obama is barely bothering to advertise in the state these days and a poll released during the convention showed Obama pulling away in the state.

People who want to see Republicans: The list of people sending their regrets to this party was a long one. It was then compounded by Bush and Cheney not showing up.

The Image of Minnesota: On Tuesday a strong cold front came in and temperatures plummeted. Guess what the delegates will talk about when they get back home?

Businesses: It was advertised to the community as a bonanza when St. Paul was awarded the convention. The delegates, however, largely stayed away from the area businesses. Additionally, the locals steered clear of the whole mess and restaurants and bars saw declines in revenues. Local bars paid $2,500 for licenses to stay open late for customers who never came. Strip clubs advertised aggressively for convention business. I don’t know how they made out. By and large the delegates stayed in hotels and went to the convention. Some complained on TV that Minneapolis was too far away to visit.

The Minnesota Twins: In order to avoid the convention madness the Twins were sent on a road trip that lasted over two weeks. The exhausted team ended the stretch by getting swept in Toronto.

Science: The Science Museum of Minnesota was forced to close for the convention. The symbolism of this could not have been more appropriate.

Protesters: Groups protesting the war were infiltrated by anarchists who were intent on causing trouble. They found it, and in the process they drowned out the anti-war message.

The Police: Arrested hundreds of people, many of whom seemed to be uninvolved in the anarchists antics and were later released without charge. Several journalists covering the protests were arrested and protesters who were offering no resistance were shown being roughed up pretty hard on TV.

WINNERS

R.T. Rybak: The mayor of Minneapolis bent over backwards to help the Republicans mount a successful convention that wasn’t even in his city. This sets him up well for a rumored run against Governor Tim Pawlenty in 2010.

2

Actually, the SMM closed to the public so they could be open for private events.

Me. I work directly across the street from the Xcel Center and our work shut down at 2pm on Tuesday and Wednesday and at noon on Thursday. I got some free paid time off. Although, I’ve normally got 4 main ways I can get home from work and 2 of them have been blocked leaving me with the two highway options which aren’t always great.
I have to say, walking around at lunchtime in downtime was pretty cool. It was a bit of a circus atmosphere but at the same time, it’s rare to see life here except at night time for a hockey game or concert at the Xcel/Roy Wilkens.

The amount of guns and police and tow trucks and secret service and gates made me feel like I was in a different country. Showing credentials to park in the “forbidden zone” made me feel like I was going to East Berlin twenty years ago. On Wednesday, I was stopped by the police on my way out for a parade of about 50 people with a banner with a paragraph talking about Somalia and Ethiopia and war which didn’t make a lot of sense. The funny part was that the parade was about 20 paraders and the other 30 were police on bikes, on foot, and in cars.
I’m glad it’s over.

3

There are strip clubs in St. Paul?

4

I think they’re on the East Side on Payne Ave “The Payne Reliever” and such. I’ve only ever been to Deja Vu in Minneapolis when I was 18, which was two years before I came out. The dancers grabbed my penis. I was scared and scarred.

5

“Some complained on TV that Minneapolis was too far away to visit.”

Ouch.

The Police: Specifically, the Ramsay County Sheriff’s department.

My wife was out on the streets covering the marches and protests for her blog; she’s had training in safe protesting practices, whatever those are, and has spent the last year getting other march organizers trained up, and she said that the only officials that seemed to be out of line were the county cops. The secret service types she saw all had body language showing that they were pissed at how everything was being handled. If anybody was inciting a riot, it was the cops.

6

Never leave your penis in a vulnerable position! Especially in a public establishment! :smiley:

Anyway, to the OP: An article in the PiPress a week or so in advance of the convention reported that not a single bar in town plopped down the extra bucks for a temporary license to stay open until 4 a.m.

That may have changed between the time the article was printed and the convention started, but probably not by much. So I don’t think that many bars got burned by this.

Also, for the frequent mistaken assertions that the RNC was in Minneapolis, I blame the nimnuts who designed the official “Welcome RNC” logo … and put “Minneapolis-St. Paul” on it! :smack:

7

Well, what did you expect from the thugs led by Sheriff Bob Fletcher?

He’s a redneck’s redneck…

8

Per a friend of a friend - that was how it was supposed to work, but after being promised those private events, few if any bookings were actually made. So closed for private events became just closed.

9

We were going to go there this weekend - ended up at Ft. Snelling instead - which turned out to be way cool.

I was shocked - I drive down Shepard every day and didn’t see much of anything - except Chestnut closed off - and one day about a hundred guys standing around on Shepard in riot gear. Oh, and overdressed people strolling along the river. I had told my boss I might be working from home all week - and it didn’t happen.

(Lamplighter - neighborhood bar with strippers - I think its still there, its been there forever. The “good” strip clubs are in Minneapolis because St. Paul has a “girls under glass” rule.)