Roughly 16,000 hotel rooms throughout the Twin Cities have been reserved for delegates and media members slated to attend the Republican National Convention in September. These accommodations have been arranged with assistance from various local government officials and the Minneapolis St. Paul 2008 Host Committee.

But for the thousands of protesters expected to descend on the Twin Cities, finding a place to bed down for the night is a bit more challenging. A message board set up to help arrange accommodations for out-of-town activists provides some insight into the process.

The RNC 2008 Protest Housing Board features solicitations from both those looking for a place to stay and locals offering up housing. Demand seems to be outstripping supply at this point. There are currently 32 listings seeking accommodations (although one ad is posted nine times), and just 13 offering up housing.

Most of the potential houseguests promise to be unobtrusive and respectful. "I’m flexible, gluten-free, in need of having some sort of access to a kitchen if at all possible," writes a student from Santa Cruz, California. "Basically I just need a place to stay."

But then there’s this challenging solicitation:

Howdy! My two friends and I are coming all the way out from California to help blockade the convention. We’re gonna show Sector 4 how we roll in Oakland! no sober spaces, no kid friendly spaces, we want a place where we can drink till we fall down, make molotovs, take in a punk show, get hella stoned, and come in at 3 or 4 in the morning with our hands covered in paint and not have it be an issue. In short we’re looking for a place just like home. So If you’ve got a warehouse/squat/garden/shack/trailer or whatever that you’d like to put three very grateful young revolutionary anarchist motherfuckers up in, please do holler at me. Otherwise we’re gonna stay under a bridge. Cheers!

Somehow it seems likely that they’ll indeed be staying under a bridge during the four-day gathering.