Live from Gluek's in the Twin Cities - Across the Street from "Rally for the Republic"
Whew. What a frantic day. I didn't even get to shave.
I rushed downtown this morning to the Target Center in Minneapolis to grab a cheap ticket on the sidewalk to Rally for the Republic from Ann, a lady from White Bear Lake.
A pretty huge crowd of several hundred gathered rowdily on the sidewalk in front. What a diverse, interesting crowd. There's probably a stereotypical "Ron Paulite" in everyone's mind. And yes, there were certainly some of those, you might say. But the individuals that comprised the crowd were far from cookie-cutter.
There were old women. There were young, well-dressed college students. There were men in tri-corner hats. Anarchists handing out literature. Rancher-type characters. Actual GOP Convention delegates. Men in hats. Free State Project folks with porcupines on their shirts. Guys with dreds and tie-dye. Women with babies. Men with babies. Truthers of all kinds. Junior Statemen of America in their coats. Button salesmen. Black men in cowboy hats. Women from Texas in cowboy hats. Veterans of the contested Nevada GOP caucus wearing black shirts. Young kids wearing "Gold is Money" shirts. Ancient Goldwater supporters. Technocrats in black frame glasses.
Speaking of technocrats in black frame glasses, Libertarian presidential candidate Bob Barr looked a bit like one, appearing spruce and sharp amidst the crowd at one point, a Starbucks drink in hand, trademark classes echoing Barry Goldwater. I shook his hand and later talked with him inside the doors - he immediately said Perlis as I approached, noting my cyan blue Crawfish polo indigenous to New Orleans. How do know that, I said, somewhat taken aback? Apparently, his son-in-law is from New Orleans, and Bob himself purchased some Perlis apparel last time he was in town. No seersucker, though.
A flashbang sound went off as people milled in the atrium, causing a few to flinch. Especially after the anarchist activities in St. Paul yesterday, it made sense to flinch a bit.
Across the street, I grapped a drink at Starbucks, only to meet Fox News correspondent Steve Brown, who offered to buy me something when he found out I had evacuated NOLA for Gustav. MSNBC's David Gregory was not far behind in line (and man, is he tall!).
Ironically, we had our bags searched as we entered. And huge signs throughout the convention center stating "NO GUNS" contrasted with the 2nd Amendment pins worn by a few people in line around me.
Inside the convention hall, everyone had something to hand out. A John Birch Society rep proffered me a cd, unsolicited. Tucker Carlson introduced the event - and gave a slightly legitimizing sheen to the event. Many actual GOP convention delegates were in attendance, filling the floor of the Target Center.
Listening to the first few speakers after Tucker, it soon became clear - the crowd was by and large anti-UN, anti-IRS, anti-Federal Reserve ('F the Fed!' was the cry issued by Howard Phillips of the Conservative Caucus), and hardcore anti-North American Union. Everyone seemed to be enamored with Ron Paul, and people were unabashedly self-referencing Constitutionalists. In fact, a pile of copies of the Bill of Rights flanked the doors of the convention hall.
Overall, the gathering demonstrated the difficulty still faced by any libertarian political effort moving forward at the national level - how to appear legitimate given all the divergent tensions within the movement and the smattering of fringe groups that latch on whether invited or not. Barr, for one, seemed to represent - concretely, seeing him there in person - a somewhat more promising way forward.
Come back across the river, one speaker said. Come back, GOP, to your roots. It was an interesting call, one that set the crowd roaring.
Heading over here to Gluek's - a classic old establishment I visited last time I was in town (I'm sitting right under the moose head) - I ran into a guy standing watching the hoopla on the sidewalk, an Obama hat on his head. What do you think of al this, I asked? It's a pipe dream, he said. They're crazy.
But as I said, for all the craziness, there were quite a few people present among the thousands who seemed pretty darn normal and reasonable in personal conversation - far more than I would have anticipated. Ron Paul is slated to speak this evening - after, among others, Jesse Ventura. I may stop back, or I may just head over to St. Paul to see what's up with the GOP.
I rushed downtown this morning to the Target Center in Minneapolis to grab a cheap ticket on the sidewalk to Rally for the Republic from Ann, a lady from White Bear Lake.
A pretty huge crowd of several hundred gathered rowdily on the sidewalk in front. What a diverse, interesting crowd. There's probably a stereotypical "Ron Paulite" in everyone's mind. And yes, there were certainly some of those, you might say. But the individuals that comprised the crowd were far from cookie-cutter.
There were old women. There were young, well-dressed college students. There were men in tri-corner hats. Anarchists handing out literature. Rancher-type characters. Actual GOP Convention delegates. Men in hats. Free State Project folks with porcupines on their shirts. Guys with dreds and tie-dye. Women with babies. Men with babies. Truthers of all kinds. Junior Statemen of America in their coats. Button salesmen. Black men in cowboy hats. Women from Texas in cowboy hats. Veterans of the contested Nevada GOP caucus wearing black shirts. Young kids wearing "Gold is Money" shirts. Ancient Goldwater supporters. Technocrats in black frame glasses.
Speaking of technocrats in black frame glasses, Libertarian presidential candidate Bob Barr looked a bit like one, appearing spruce and sharp amidst the crowd at one point, a Starbucks drink in hand, trademark classes echoing Barry Goldwater. I shook his hand and later talked with him inside the doors - he immediately said Perlis as I approached, noting my cyan blue Crawfish polo indigenous to New Orleans. How do know that, I said, somewhat taken aback? Apparently, his son-in-law is from New Orleans, and Bob himself purchased some Perlis apparel last time he was in town. No seersucker, though.
A flashbang sound went off as people milled in the atrium, causing a few to flinch. Especially after the anarchist activities in St. Paul yesterday, it made sense to flinch a bit.
Across the street, I grapped a drink at Starbucks, only to meet Fox News correspondent Steve Brown, who offered to buy me something when he found out I had evacuated NOLA for Gustav. MSNBC's David Gregory was not far behind in line (and man, is he tall!).
Ironically, we had our bags searched as we entered. And huge signs throughout the convention center stating "NO GUNS" contrasted with the 2nd Amendment pins worn by a few people in line around me.
Inside the convention hall, everyone had something to hand out. A John Birch Society rep proffered me a cd, unsolicited. Tucker Carlson introduced the event - and gave a slightly legitimizing sheen to the event. Many actual GOP convention delegates were in attendance, filling the floor of the Target Center.
Listening to the first few speakers after Tucker, it soon became clear - the crowd was by and large anti-UN, anti-IRS, anti-Federal Reserve ('F the Fed!' was the cry issued by Howard Phillips of the Conservative Caucus), and hardcore anti-North American Union. Everyone seemed to be enamored with Ron Paul, and people were unabashedly self-referencing Constitutionalists. In fact, a pile of copies of the Bill of Rights flanked the doors of the convention hall.
Overall, the gathering demonstrated the difficulty still faced by any libertarian political effort moving forward at the national level - how to appear legitimate given all the divergent tensions within the movement and the smattering of fringe groups that latch on whether invited or not. Barr, for one, seemed to represent - concretely, seeing him there in person - a somewhat more promising way forward.
Come back across the river, one speaker said. Come back, GOP, to your roots. It was an interesting call, one that set the crowd roaring.
Heading over here to Gluek's - a classic old establishment I visited last time I was in town (I'm sitting right under the moose head) - I ran into a guy standing watching the hoopla on the sidewalk, an Obama hat on his head. What do you think of al this, I asked? It's a pipe dream, he said. They're crazy.
But as I said, for all the craziness, there were quite a few people present among the thousands who seemed pretty darn normal and reasonable in personal conversation - far more than I would have anticipated. Ron Paul is slated to speak this evening - after, among others, Jesse Ventura. I may stop back, or I may just head over to St. Paul to see what's up with the GOP.
Labels: Bob Barr, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Rally for the Republic, Ron Paul
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posted by Brad V at 2:45 PM
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