DELEGATES

Minnesota Delegates Are So Near, Yet So Far

Hotel In Downtown St. Paul Proves Less Accessible Than The Six-Block Distance From The Xcel Center Would Suggest

by Marilyn Werber Serafini

Thursday, Sept. 4, 2008


Minnesota delegates thought they had hit the jackpot by scoring a St. Paul hotel just six blocks from the Xcel Energy Center. Nearly every other delegation was assigned quarters in downtown Minneapolis or near the Mall of America -- options at least a 20-minute trip away from the convention hall on a good day, meaning a day without highways and byways blocked by police barricades.

On a map, it looked like the host delegation would be conveniently situated smack in the middle of all the convention action. But Minnesota delegates weren't counting on the kind of action they have been getting, and they aren't feeling so lucky anymore.

"I thought this would be a great location," said Midge Dean, who is from St. Cloud. "But it's hard to get around St. Paul. You go to turn the corner, and you can't turn." On Monday, when her delegation took buses to Minneapolis for a daytime event, getting back was difficult. It took only 20 minutes to cross back to St. Paul, but another 40 minutes to slowly wind their way around congested and blocked-off streets to the hotel.

Indeed, moving around St. Paul this week is something of a nightmare, creating an unusual set of regrets for delegations housed nearby (Arizona is also close in), and a sigh of relief from those in outlying areas.

With few taxis and only a limited light rail system in the Twin Cities, staying close to the convention site was supposed to be a win-win situation. But rampant and aggressive protests have jammed streets and sometimes made it nearly impossible to get in and out of St. Paul, which has a limited number of entry and exit points to begin with.

Although the Minnesotans are housed just a short walk away from the Xcel Center, they are taking a bus to the site for security reasons, and the buses have had "unique" -- meaning bizarre and circuitous -- routing, according to Ron Carey, chairman of the Minnesota Republican Party.

Meanwhile, many out-of-state delegates housed in Minneapolis or beyond are basking in their unexpected good fortune. Bob Kabel, chief of the Washington, D.C., Republican Party, said that his delegation has easily reached daytime events and after-hours parties, because almost all events except the convention's official proceedings are taking place in Minneapolis.

Is he glad he's not bunking much nearer the Xcel Center? "Yes, in a word," he said, with a particularly wide smile. "In St. Paul, there's not much to do at night," he said. "We're city people."

  •  
  •