Republican Party rallies around McCain, Palin at St. Paul convention
Whitney A. Stewart
Issue date: 9/4/08 Section: News
Outside the Xcel Energy Center, which houses the convention, opposition marches to the Iraq war and Bush's policies have kept street corners lined with marshaled police forces in full riot gear. In the convention's first two days, police dispersed tear gas and flash grenades at protesters and arrested several hundred of the rowdiest when some, wearing vinegar-soaked bandannas over their faces and identifying themselves as anarchists charged riot police lines.
One woman stood by the protest parades and cheered. She expressed bitterness that the war in Iraq continues and said Republicans keep it going by promoting fear tactics so they can get control of Middle East oil.
"They ruled on fear like the Mafia," Colleen Hogan, 58, said. "And it has worked splendidly, hasn't it?"
Not all conservatives spent the first days of the week at the RNC, though. A Rally for the Republic brought as many as 10,000 conservatives to the Minneapolis Target Center to hear former presidential candidate Ron Paul speak at the kick-off event for his Campaign for Liberty. Paul, a Texas congressman, has dropped out of the race, but is embarking on an educational campaign he says could help teach a young generation about conservatism.
He said a commitment to limited government leads to greater freedom for people and said the country needs to move back to its original moorings in the Constitution. He espoused a hard money policy and called for an end to the Federal Reserve. He also said the U.S. response to 9/11 has wrongfully taken American freedoms and called the war on drugs a total failure for not preventing addictions to non-regulated medicines, like prescription drugs.
He called for people to stay true to their ideals, even when that means observing times of peaceful, civil disobedience.
Paul's message has some conservatives planning to cast votes for third-party candidates as a way of voting for their ideals instead of following the argument to work for change from within the party.
"At some point, you just have to stand up for what you really believe in," said John Kusske, 30, from St. Paul, Minn., who said he doesn't yet know who he will vote for or even if he will vote at all. "McCain is the last conservative in my estimation of the Republican presidential candidates."
And while Paul called for a return to traditional conservative values, he did not endorse any candidate. Instead, he said Republicans should follow their hearts and brains when they walk into the polls in November.
"I think politics should always be idealistic," he told The Collegian as he walked off the stage following his Tuesday night speech. "I'm involved in politics and I'm an idealist."
Stephen Ball, 18, will vote for his first time this November and while he said he agreed with Paul's message, he plans to vote for McCain.
"I got a right to vote," he said. "I might as well use it."
One woman stood by the protest parades and cheered. She expressed bitterness that the war in Iraq continues and said Republicans keep it going by promoting fear tactics so they can get control of Middle East oil.
"They ruled on fear like the Mafia," Colleen Hogan, 58, said. "And it has worked splendidly, hasn't it?"
Not all conservatives spent the first days of the week at the RNC, though. A Rally for the Republic brought as many as 10,000 conservatives to the Minneapolis Target Center to hear former presidential candidate Ron Paul speak at the kick-off event for his Campaign for Liberty. Paul, a Texas congressman, has dropped out of the race, but is embarking on an educational campaign he says could help teach a young generation about conservatism.
He said a commitment to limited government leads to greater freedom for people and said the country needs to move back to its original moorings in the Constitution. He espoused a hard money policy and called for an end to the Federal Reserve. He also said the U.S. response to 9/11 has wrongfully taken American freedoms and called the war on drugs a total failure for not preventing addictions to non-regulated medicines, like prescription drugs.
He called for people to stay true to their ideals, even when that means observing times of peaceful, civil disobedience.
Paul's message has some conservatives planning to cast votes for third-party candidates as a way of voting for their ideals instead of following the argument to work for change from within the party.
"At some point, you just have to stand up for what you really believe in," said John Kusske, 30, from St. Paul, Minn., who said he doesn't yet know who he will vote for or even if he will vote at all. "McCain is the last conservative in my estimation of the Republican presidential candidates."
And while Paul called for a return to traditional conservative values, he did not endorse any candidate. Instead, he said Republicans should follow their hearts and brains when they walk into the polls in November.
"I think politics should always be idealistic," he told The Collegian as he walked off the stage following his Tuesday night speech. "I'm involved in politics and I'm an idealist."
Stephen Ball, 18, will vote for his first time this November and while he said he agreed with Paul's message, he plans to vote for McCain.
"I got a right to vote," he said. "I might as well use it."
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