GOP convention gears up in strongly Democratic city

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Lenny Beckerman-Rodau Enlarge

In just the first steps off the plane in Minneapolis there can be no doubt a battleground has brewed here in this strongly Democratic city for many weeks.

Republican delegates arriving to nominate John McCain as their hopeful to defeat the younger senator from Illinois get a laugh and a proverbial shot in the arm just feet away from the gate.

"Allergic to Democrats Minnesota" T-shirts, prominently displayed for sale, were selling. Even at $20 a piece, Republicans chuckled and purchased the shirts.

John Steinner, a long-time Minnesotan who works on a farm about an hour drive from St. Paul, joked he would make his wife wear the shirt.

"I'm a lifelong Republican and she's not, but with the governor of Alaska as the next vice president, it's likely she'll come around to my side and vote Republican," he said. "We are hoping that will be the case a lot, even here in Minneapolis and people will vote for McCain."

The sentiment is what many Republicans are hoping for.

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"We not only have a woman on the ticket. We have Superwoman on the ticket," said Ohio Republican Party Chairman Bob Bennett on John McCain's pick of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate. An avid outdoorsman, Ms. Palin hunts, fishes, rides snowmobiles, and has been known to occasionally hunt members of her own party.

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Mary Verich, Australian turned Wisconsin citizen, doesn't necessarily equate Mary Tyler Moore with Minneapolis.

But the statue of the iconic, single professional woman tossing her hat into the air is the only Minneapolis site where Ms. Verich and three of her friends had their picture taken while attending the Republican National Convention in nearby St. Paul.

"It was a good program, and I wish we had good programs like that today," she said. "It was good humor. It was innocent."

Living in Leona, Wis., Ms. Verich is a guest with the Wisconsin delegation staying in a hotel nearby.

Wisconsin delegate Virginia Jesse, of Shawano near Green Bay, is attending her second convention, her first as a voting delegate.

So why did she stop to have her picture taken in front of the statue at the corner of Nicolet Mall and 7th Street?

"Because it's the only place where I can do that," she said with a laugh.

Mary Richards, the character portrayed by Ms. Moore in the classic 1970s sitcom, worked for the news division of a low-rated Minneapolis TV station.

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Mr. McCain's selection of Ms. Palin as his vice presidential choice, which he on Sunday was reaffirmed by an outpouring of warmth across the nation, has generated much buzz and excitement from visiting delegates and people living in the Twin Cities who are watching their cities swell with many thousands of people arriving for the Republican National Convention this week.

Sydney Ann Engel, a voting member of the Michigan delegation, arrived Sunday afternoon exhausted from her flight but ready to support Senator McCain.

"I am very happy, of course, with her," Ms. Engel said. "I am of course a (Mitt) Romney supporter and I wanted him, but I see the benefit of Sarah Palin."

Mr. McCain and Ms. Palin will accept the presidential and vice presidential nominations at the Republican National Convention, which begins Monday.

Ms. Engel said Senator McCain's order on Sunday to cancel all political speeches for the nominating convention to avoid a festive atmosphere while Americans cope with Hurricane Gustav was disappointing but the right move.

"Our big day was Friday with the announcement that Sarah Palin would be the vice presidential nominee," she said.

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Not everyone in town this week is a McCain support or would shell out $20 bucks for the anti-Democrat shirt.

Thousands of protesters are expected to demonstrate in downtown St. Paul and near at St. Paul's Excel Energy Center.

Lenny Beckerman-Rodau, a Sylvania native now living in New York and attending Hofstra University, flew to the twin cities under a program that pairs college students with media outlets.

"No, no. I'm a Democrat," admitted the 24-year-old student who studies mathematics.

After two days, Mr. Beckerman-Rodau said he had not seen the kind of protests he expected.

"So far it's been pretty calm here. Nothing like New York or Boston four years ago," he said. "But it's early still."

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Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty may be a sixth-year governor and once the subject of vice presidential speculation, but some Ohio delegates seemed more interested Monday in what it was like to replace Jesse Ventura as governor.

The former professional wrestler seemed to break all the rules when he won the governor's mansion as an independent a decade ago.

"That's the shadow I live under - "no muscle, skinny legs," he said.

BROOKLYN PARK, Minn - Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox took up arms Monday morning against Democrats and Senator Barack Obama - labeling him a flip-flopper - during the state's breakfast gathering before the first day of the Republican National Convention in St. Paul.

“Do you want a commander-in-chief or a panderer-in-chief? And that's what this election is all about Mr. Cox said before likening Senator John McCain to Teddy Roosevelt.

Mr. Cox predicted the election would be close and implored the Michigan delegates to help deliver the state for Mr. McCain.

“We can do something that hasn't been done since 1988 and that's bring Michigan home to the Republican column in the presidential election, he said.

Mr. Cox told the delegates that the Democratic nominee has switched positions on domestic oil drilling, legalization of marijuana, establishing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, and said Mr. Obama's selection of Senator Joe Biden contradicted his calls for change in Washington.

He called the Delaware senator a 35-year-old D.C. insider windbag in the Senate."

Mr. Cox said Mr. McCain "chose a citizen politician, not a career politician when he picked Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate.

- Ignazio Messina