Protesters in St. Paul
ST. PAUL, MINN. – A pending natural disaster may scrap the schedule of a major party’s political convention, but protest marches continue as scheduled.
An estimated 200 people – with some wearing orange coveralls to represent prisoners held in detention camps at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba – marched today in front of the Xcel Energy Center in downtown St. Paul. The U.S. considers the detainees enemy combatants in the global war on terrorirsm; the protestors ccomplained they are being held illegally.
Few GOP delegates were in the convention hall, no key Republican officials were anywhere near the place, and most media members were inside scrambling to get the latest on reports that some of the four-day convention which begins Monday would be suspended because Hurricane Gustav could cause widespread destruction along the Gulf Coast.
What the protestors did do was tie up traffic. My taxi driver, perplexed because we were sitting still in traffic for several minutes, told me it might be best for me to get out and jog the three or four blocks to the convention center.
While taxi drivers see traffic jams as a deterrent to income, many reporters consider them as harvesting a possible story.
So instead of cutting across a couple parking lots at the taxi driver’s suggestion as a quick detour, I plowed straight ahead and ran straight into the protest march.
It was an orderly affair. Members of St. Paul’s finest on bicycle patrol said they had no idea how many participated in the protest, which seemed to dissipate about five blocks from the convention center.
The Associated Press reports that police arrested nine people after they crossed a security fence into a restricted area near the Xcel Energy Center. The nine were arrested for trespassing, police said.
- Michael McNutt Capitol Bureau
Louisiana delegation committed to GOP convention
MINNEAPOLIS – Roger Villere Jr. is thinking about his wife and family he left behind in New Orleans, but the chairman of the Louisiana Republican Party says his national duty is to be here to nominate U.S. Sen. John McCain as president.“
“The whole thing is it’s so very important to what we’re doing,” said Villere, a New Orleans florist. “We’re going to nominate the next president and vice president of the United States. This is the process and there’s nothing in the rules to stop the process. We have to go through with it or there’s no mechanism to get our nominee, Sen. McCain, on the ballot.”
Hurricane Gustav is aiming for New Orleans, where Villere owns three florist shops and greenhouses. All were damaged three years ago from high winds of Hurricane Katrina when it struck the Crescent City.
Villere, of Metairie, La., in metropolitan New Orleans, said his wife, who helped oversee covering glass and putting delivery vans up on blocks Saturday to prepare for the storm, evacuated New Orleans today for northern Louisiana. A couple sons and his grandmother left Saturday to various locations in Arkansas and Tennessee. All of his 54 employees have evacuated. His stories shut down Saturday and will be closed through at least Wednesday. Because of the oncoming storm, only about 185 of Louisiana’s 240-member GOP delegation will make it here, Villere said. A couple delegates who arrived here went back as the storm intensified Saturday.Because of his smaller-than-expected delegation, Villere invited Oklahoma’s GOP delegation to join his group for food and fun at an establishment called GameWorks in downtown Minneapolis, near the Target Center.The Louisiana delegation had rented the second floor of the place, which featured video games, bowling and plenty of television sets tuned to baseball and college football games.
While the regular crowd hooted it up downstairs, a much quieter scene was upstairs. Dozens of Louisiana delegates were keeping track of Gustav through e-mails sent to their cell phones or by tracking the hurricane on the Internet with their cell phones.
Eventually, several TV sets were tuned to news stations so the group could keep up with the coverage.
Villere says he understands coverage of the hurricane will take away from the Republican National Convention, which is scheduled to start Monday in nearby St. Paul.
“It will show that the Republican Party is on top of it, we’re prepared,” Villere said. “We’re accepting it, we’re not whining about it.”
McCain’s campaign staff has been in touch with all the GOP state chairmen and the chairmen from the Gulf Coast about what the situation is with the hurricane, Villere said. McCain also is interested in organizing some type of humanitarian aid effort and to raise money to help communities that would be devastated by the hurricane, he said.
Some Gulf Coast Republican governors, such as the governors of Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi and Florida, are skipping the national convention to stay in their states as Gustav approaches, Villere said. And President Bush, who was expected to speak Monday night, now is considered unlikely to attend because of the hurricane.
-Michael McNutt, Capitol Bureau
Moving on to November
While a recount is being sought in theHouse District 57 race, where Lyle Miller lost by eight votes to Harold Wright, the victors in Tuesday’s other two House runoff contests are focusing on their next contests in November.
In the House District 59 race, Mike Sanders defeated Chris Cameron in the Republican runoff for House District 59. Sanders won 1,458 votes, or 54 percent, to Cameron’s 1,240 votes. Sanders and Cameron are both businessmen in Kingfisher.
Sanders, who nearly won the seat in last month’s primary when he garnered 49.6 percent of the vote in a three-way race, credited his work ethic and his experience for his runoff victory.
Sanders faces Donald E. Russell, a cattleman and Hennessey Democrat, in the Nov. 4 general election. Rep. Rob Johnson, R-Kingfisher, didn’t seek re-election.
Sanders said he will continue to campaign hard in the mostly Republican district that covers Dewey County and parts of Blaine, Canadian, Kingfisher, Major and Woodward counties.
“The next 70 days will not be easy, but I’m looking forward to it,” he said.
In the House District 72 race, Seneca Scott beat Christie Breedlove, both of Tulsa, in the Democratic runoff.
He received 535 votes, or 52.2 percent, to Breedlove’s 489 votes.
Scott said walking the district twice since the July 29 primary helped him secure the victory.
“Our vision of building a strong coalition of multiple partners – faith-based groups, neighborhood leaders, small businesses – was rewarded,” Scott said.
Scott, who works for an energy company, faces Lawrence Kirkpatrick, an independent from Tulsa, in the Nov. 4 general election.
“We’re going to keep working,” said Scott, saying he is not taking anything for granted in the heavily Democratic district.
Rep. Darrell Gilbert, D-Tulsa, cannot run again because of term limits.
- Michael McNutt, Capitol Bureau
Coburn talks about energy, health care, VP choices
If this country wasn’t facing an energy crisis, Congress should be talking about health care, another critical area, U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn says.Coburn, R-Muskogee, says Congress should be in session to develop an energy policy and look at ways to get the
Michael McNutt, Capitol Bureau
