Posted on 03/21/2008 9:20:49 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
In Denver.
Denver is not equipped to handle any convention scenario other than a coronation, and certainly not the most (potentially) contentious national convention in 40 years.
It is important to point out that the state of Colorado, and the city of Denver, is currently nearly completely controlled by Democrats at every level of government. This puts these locals in a box, politically and from a law enforcement standpoint. This sets up a scenario similar to Seattle 1999 WTO debacle. I happened to be living in downtown Seattle during that awful experience, and what stands out is that the city and state (even the Federal Government at that time) were all controlled by Democrats at every level, even police chief. That meant they were politically unwilling to confront their own in the days leading up to the summit: that is, the anti-globalism/WTO protestors, greenies, and union members that were planning major marches, civil disobedience, and even outright mischief.
The reason is simple, they didn't want to alienate their own constituencies by seeming too heavy handed. The result was that by the time they had to crackdown, it was too late and with police state tactics, water cannons, gas cannisters, police in riot gear, and dusk to dawn curfews on the streets. There is still a lot of these scenes on YouTube and many disenchanted lefties are promising a repeat in Denver this year. Any variation of this would be a potential public relations disaster for the Democrat nominee in trying to win Colorado, and one that would virtually ensure not only a McCain victory in the state, but a stigmatization that could likely lead to major setbacks for the Democrat party in Colorado for years to come.
[Early afternoon update]
It's already starting, and it's still March:
Spagnuolo has been meeting monthly with city officials for a year, hoping to win the right to use Civic Center throughout the convention. He says 50,000 war protesters are coming for a march from Civic Center to the Pepsi Center on Aug. 24.
He said Thursday that he would not respect the host committee's permit and would occupy the park, even if it forced police to intervene.
Referring to the $50 million in federal security money slated for the convention, Spagnuolo said Denver police would need "$25 million to protect the Pepsi Center and $25 million to protect Civic Center."
I have no sympathy. When your political party encourages and welcomes brown shirterry (as long as it's aimed at "neocons" and "globalists," and "capitalists," and other evil people), this is what you get. Lay down with dogs, get up with fleas.
[Update at 1 PM]
More bad news for the donkeys:
In a sign of just how divisive and ugly the Democratic fight has gotten, only 53% of Clinton voters say they'll vote for Obama should he become the nominee. Nineteen percent say they'll go for Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and 13% say they won't vote. Sixty percent of Obama voters say they'll go for Clinton should she win the nomination, with 20% opting for McCain, and three percent saying they won't vote.
That's already starting to show up in the national polling, where McCain is way ahead of both Hillary! and Obama. As I've been saying for months, the Dems have set themselves for a shellacking, because both of their lead candidates are unelectable in the general, and the internecine strife just makes it worse. Their only hope lies in a brokered convention, and a different candidate, and even then, it's unlikely that they'll recover.
......Nineteen percent say they’ll go for Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., .......
Hillary voters will carry the day and more than offset disgruntled FReepers who continued to sit on their hands. :}
.....The only problem will be the nationwide shortage of popcorn.....
Call your local Boy Scout Troop. I’ll bet they can find you some at the council office.
She'll be there with the doughnuts
Well, but what is to stop them from rioting outside the Minneapolis dome in August, too? How would that be any different?
The group plotting to disrupt the Republican Convention is called “The RNC Welcoming Committee” who describe themselves as anarchists. I am sure the two groups have many of the same members.
I live just in the mountains west of Denver and South of Boulder. The r-68 group has announced they plan to disrupt areas away from the convention as well. I don’t expect to see trouble in my small area, but Boulder could also be a hot spot that they would try to stir up.
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