taken from: The Huffington Post
Posted November 6, 2007, 09:04 AM (EST)
Saint Paul-Minneapolis - If you long to wake up in a city that never sleeps, then Saint Paul and Minnneapolis are definitely not your kind of towns.

Around here, people put the cat out and go to bed early. Life is quiet. Political discourse is by-and-large civil. But the prospect of hosting next September’s Republican National Convention complete with confetti and balloon drops and conga lines in the aisles at the Xcel Energy Center is beginning to make people nervous.

So, too, is the very real possibility that convention-related protests and demonstrations will lead to violent confrontation on some of the most orderly and civil streets in America. Add the major inconvenience that hosting the convention will cause local residents and you have a political powder keg situated 60 days ahead of the general election.

Locally, the political instructions couldn’t be more clear: “Handle With Care.” The situation is especially delicate for R.T. Rybak and Chris Coleman, the Democratic mayors of Minneapolis and Saint Paul respectively.

For Rybak and Coleman, there’s an opportunity in that powder keg. Handle the RNC right, and good things will almost certainly follow. The governorship is a possibility. There might even be a senate seat available some day. After all, Hubert Humphrey was mayor of Minnneapolis. And Saint Paul was once led by a young Democrat named Norm Coleman).

How to play it…

Hmmm…

How to play it…

How to play gracious host to people from the other side of the aisle? How to cheerlead the positive aspects of the event? How to cope with the prospect of all those protesters at the same time?

Coleman (no relation to Senator Coleman) sees the convention as, “A wonderful opportunity to gain international exposure for the region.

“…We’ve got 15,000 media people from all over the world coming to town to cover the convention… people who don’t spend a lot of time in Minnesota… As long as it’s well-managed, it’ll be a wonderful opportunity.”

Being a gracious host and cheerleading comes just as easily to Minneapolis’ Rybak.

“The convention will let us showcase this region,” Rybak enthuses “… It’ll pump millions of dollars into the local economy…”

He can map the route those millions will take from the Republicans and media types through the hospitality industry through the pockets of working class people and into the local economy. An adroit segue later, he can describe a series of convention-oriented programs and exhibits - bread and circuses for local folks - something to take their minds off the inconvenience.

Across the Mississippi in Saint Paul, Coleman agrees. “It will be a front row seat for democracy - a great ‘teachable moment’ for the kids of Saint Paul.”

No doubt about it. For the Democratic mayors of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, the glass is more than half full, where the Republican Convention is concerned. For others, though, the outlook is not quite as rosy. Indeed, many people expect violent confrontation between law enforcement and protesters.

“It’s going to be icky,” one middle-aged, left-leaning Minnneapolis resident opined recently. “You don’t want to go over there and demonstrate, but they’re the Republicans, for God’s sake. They started the war…”

And Saint Paul can expect demonstrators from all over the world, not just Minneapolis.

This summer, a number of groups came to town for a protest planning event called “pReNC” sponsored by a local anarchist group called The RNC Welcoming Committee. Some of the out of towners joined the monthly (and usually-peaceful) Critical Mass bike rally. A confrontation between anarchists Minneapolis police ensued. There were 19 arrests, tasers and pepper spray - a whiff of what may well come to Saint Paul’s streets next September.

As for numbers of protesters to expect, authorities - including both mayors - say it’s too early to tell. A number of variables, including progress (or lack of progress) in Iraq, will help determine the size and mood of the crowds.

“We expect it will be more than a few,” says Coleman wryly.

If violent confrontation is poison, authorities are counting on a good, strong dose of security planning to be the antidote. Federal, state and local agencies are hard at work doing just that.

Agencies involved in planning include the FBI and Secret Service at the Federal level, with the Secret Service taking the lead and having responsibility for security inside the convention venue. The Saint Paul police will be the lead local agency outside the convention, with other agencies, including Minneapolis and suburban police, the Minnesota State Patrol, and agencies and resources from elsewhere in the state working under Saint Paul police supervision within the city during the event.

Coleman reports that planning groups have studied successes and failures from past conventions and similar events. There were relatively few arrests at the 2004 Democratic convention in Boston, for example. How might Saint Paul duplicate that? And what can be learned from the way agencies handled (or failed to handle) protestors at the World Trade Organization meetings in Seattle in 1999?

Both mayors say that Saint Paul and Minnneapolis will learn from the past, and shape a security effort that reflects the spirit of the communities.

Will there be First Amendment Zones?

“Saint Paul is a free speech zone,” says Coleman. “We’re going to try to be as open and accommodating as possible. It’s part of the democratic process to have folks expressing their opposition…

“I just want to make sure people are safe - that people have a good time. That goes for people attending the official convention - and the unofficial one too.”

There are ten months remaining until The Republicans and their entourage of protesters and demonstrators converge on Saint Paul and Minneapolis. When local folks put the cat out and go to bed tonight, they can rest assured that two young mayors, their staffs and their law enforcement agencies are working hard to make sure everything goes right.