CONVENTION NOTEBOOK

Biden Gives Props To Palin And Fox Gets Supersized

Thursday, Sept. 4, 2008


Give Me Liberty

Libertarian presidential candidate and former Rep. Bob Barr knows that registering in the single digits in the polls doesn't exactly bring much media attention. No motorcade. No Larry King. No primetime convention speech. So, Barr decided to come to the GOP convention to make his pitch of smaller government and greater personal freedom right on the grounds of the Xcel Energy Center this morning and its radio talk-show row.

"There is virtually every media outlet across the country and around the world here, and what better place to spread the message of libertarian philosophy, my agenda, my candidacy and to let folks know how we are doing than right here where the media is," said Barr, who served as a GOP House member from Georgia from 1995 to 2003.

Barr said he received an outpouring of support while attending a Tuesday rally for Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, whose failed presidential bid drew many disaffected Republicans who felt the party has strayed by expanding government and promoting an interventionist foreign policy with the Iraq war. "There is really no other candidate that the Ron Paul supporters can really go to," Barr said.

His campaign could play a significant role in the campaign if he is able to peel off a few percentage points in the decisive swing states. Barr cited New Hampshire, Nevada, Ohio, Georgia and Missouri as key states where he says he has picked up noticeable support.

-- by Bill Swindell

Convention A Bust

Local area merchants, once promised an economic boom by the influx of convention delegates and media, instead say they have seen their business decline this week as many customers have stayed away due to outbursts of street violence from fringe protest groups.

"Business has been horrible," said Gene Will, owner of the Rivertown Market on Wabasha St. "We have a lot of elderly that live downtown, and I think a lot are nervous to come out."

Landmark Jewelry on W. 6th Street was forced to close early both Monday and Tuesday because of protesters near the store. Just a block away, groups broke three store windows at Macy's. "It's unfortunate that you have a few that ruin it for a lot of people," said Sarah Kolar of Landmark.

Even St. Paul Chamber of Commerce President Chris Johnson was not immune from intimidation. He said as he was walking down the street Tuesday, a group of anarchist group members shouted at him: "Kill the suit! Feed the poor!"

Still, he said, he did not believe the violence had marred the city's image. "It's a unique moment in our time," he said. "We want every business to participate and put on their Sunday best."

Melissa Mattson, operator of Mickey's Diner, a St. Paul institution since 1939, had praise for the police and their actions. "From what I saw, I think they were basically trying to keep it moving and control the normal crowd stuff and enforce the rules," she said.

-- by Jessica Taylor

Praise, To A Point

Democratic vice presidential nominee Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware said today that his Republican counterpart, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, did "an incredible job" in her speech Wednesday night at the Republican convention.

"I'll tell you, she is good ... and she just laid it out there," Biden said this morning at a military roundtable in Virginia Beach, Va. "She delivered an incredible speech."

But Biden said he was taken more by what she didn't say that what she said. "She didn't mention the words health care, she didn't mention the word education ... I know in her speech, and I assume in all the speeches, not one time did I hear the phrase middle class part their lips," he said.

The comments echoed remarks Biden made this morning on television news shows.

-- by Mike Memoli

Fox Gets Supersized

While many media companies pared back in St. Paul due to industry-wide economic belt-tightening, Fox News supercharged its presence.

The cable news network erected a giant white tent at the Republican National Convention and offered tours of the glitzy facility to delegates as they entered Xcel Energy Center each evening.

The vast workspace is home-base for the channel's daytime and primetime staff, its conservative pundits, FoxNews.com, Fox News Radio, and its affiliate news service Fox News Edge.

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