Saturday, September 20, 2008

John McCain Sarah Palin Campaign Rally at Anoka Airport 09-19-08

I was able to obtain access to the media area during the campaign rally welcoming John McCain and Sarah Palin to the Anoka County Airport Friday September 19th, 2008. I was told John McCain had a knack for showing up on time. They were supposed to be there at noon. Their bus (The Straight Talk Express) arrived at 11:59am and they made their way on stage at 1200 hours on the nose. 10,000 people were expected at the rally and nearly 20,000 showed up. It seems Sarah Palin has truly energized the Republican party, and party faithful seem confident that they will "take Minnesota" in November. Others spoke before McCain and Palin arrived. Two pictured here are Minnesota 2nd Distict Congressman John Kline and State Senator Norm Coleman.








Saturday, September 6, 2008

Here's a little Video of our hike by the MN River this morning with the Larson Girls

RNC - St. Paul - Thursday night 9-4-08 - Police Presence

My friend Adam and I went downtown St. Paul to take some pix during McCain's speech on Thursday evening. My brother-in-law, Kevin, is in the picture of the cops in riot gear. He's the guy on the left (S479). They arrested nearly 200 people on Thursday evening alone. We were there when they were cuffing people, booking them and putting them into prison buses. The group protesters had hoped to make it to the "X", but never made it out of the Sears parking lot across the Marion St. Bridge. Some of the other shots are taken in Rice Park where MSNBC was broadcasting live coverage. Things there were pretty civil until the convention let out. We left St. Paul as a number of officers were leaving the Marion Street Bridge for Rice Park. My understanding is that a number of other arrests were made there later in the evening. I've never seen such a stong police and military presence in the twin cities. A massive coordination of nearly 80 police departments, the National Guard, St. patrol SWAT, HASMAT, Secret Service and private security companies as well... pretty impressive. More than anything I came away thankful for a country that allows differing opinion, and offers a guy like me the freedom to walk the streets in safety.