DNC

The host committee for the Republican National Convention raised $57 million from corporations and wealthy individuals to put on the lavish four-day gala in St. Paul. What do these special interests expect in return?

Protesters blame police for violence that broke out at the conclusion of last night’s protest parade organized by the Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign. The group’s national organizer, Cheri Honkala, spoke to reporters this morning at Bushville, the temporary encampment set up by activists at 400 Western Ave. in St. Paul. “As a resident [...]

A group of five protesters are currently being arrested on Selby Ave. in the Cathedral Hill neighborhood. They’ve been sitting on the sidewalk in handcuffs for more than an hour. “They had some weapons,” said a police officer at the scene. “Some bags of feces.”

St. Paul Police Chief John Harrington addressed reporters this morning, praising the “heroic work” of cops under difficult circumstances yesterday. “We’re looking forward to a day of a little more normality than we had yesterday,” he said at the beginning of the press conference. “They did a great job in the face of a lot [...]

By Anna Pratt and Paul Demko

Early in the day protesters were joking with the riot police.

This group of anarchists, many of them wearing masks, refused to speak with reporters. Occasionally they would pause in the parade route, allow the marchers ahead to separate themselves and then sprint forward as a group down the road.

As the [...]

St. Paul Police Chief says the cops are ready to roll for day one of the Republican National Convention. “It’s game day, finally,” said Harrington at a press conference this morning in downtown St. Paul. “This has been a lot like the world’s biggest wedding. Yesterday we were still doing wedding rehearsal. … We’re now [...]

Today David Schultz and I talk about the dramatic conclusion Barack Obama’s speech brought to the Democratic convention in Denver. All in all, he says, it capped a week in which all the major Democrats featured at DNC said and did the right things. “The Democrats did well,” says Schultz. “Obama may have recaptured the [...]

It just just so happens that the Alaska delegation to the Democratic National Convention is staying in the same hotel as the entourage from Minnesota. In fact, yesterday former Gov. Tony Knowles, whose re-election plans were thwarted by Sarah Palin in 2006, was roaming the lobby. So I went downstairs to see if I could [...]

In case you missed Dennis Kucinich’s call-to-arms speech at the DNC on Tuesday (it aired during rush hour, and behind the chatter of everyone at CNN and MSNBC), one station, C-SPAN covered the whole adrenalized thing, which had Kucinich hopping mad–literally. It was probably one of the best and most impassioned speeches of the convention, with a single, clear message: Wake up, America! Transcript after the jump.

In case you missed Dennis Kucinich’s call-to-arms speech at the DNC on Tuesday (it aired during rush hour, and behind the chatter of everyone at CNN and MSNBC), one station, C-SPAN, covered the whole adrenalized thing, which had Kucinich hopping mad–literally. It was probably one of the most impassioned speeches of the convention, with a single, clear message at its crux: “Wake up, America! If there was an Olympics for misleading, mismanaging and misappropriating, this administration would take the gold.” Transcript after the jump.

Until Thursday night, it had been a crowded week for the Democratic National Convention. There were too many delegates and too many reporters jammed into the too-small Pepsi Center. The conversations of the faithful were crowded with anxieties about slipping poll numbers, soft messaging, elusive unity, and the omnipresent Clintons. Memories of disastrous Augusts (John [...]