Delegating from the Twin Cities

All Iowa Republicans probably know someone who’s a delegate, alternate, or guest attending this week’s Republican National Convention and we’re no different. With permission from the author, we share this update on what’s going on in the Twin Cities.

The delegation arrived at all hours on Sunday and only those lucky enough to see another Iowan learned where the delegation headquarters was located and that a bus would shuttle everyone to the welcome reception in downtown Minneapolis. That was quite an event with live music, food, beverages, patriotic displays, and a trade show. Let the freebies rain down! For those who arrived late, they missed the whole show. Same was true for the Monday morning breakfast – if you didn’t accidentally hear, you weren’t in the right place at 7:30 am.

The uncertainty surrounding the schedule at the Xcel Center was much more understandable. They were trying to do the right thing. At the same time, it was a lot of anticipation for something that turned out to be big but not catastrophic – but that couldn’t be predicted. I did hear from some of my colleagues who were upset about the whole situation – that old personal responsibility thing you know. If you choose to live below sea level, you get what you deserve.

Today the delegation was told about an opportunity to go to downtown Minneapolis tomorrow for a service project – likely packing donations from Target to go to the Gulf Coast. Here’s the thing – no transportation to or from. This convention is spread as thin as butter on toast geographically. Getting to any event means spendy cab fares or parking if you drive. In past cities, everything was much more compact. With Iowa’s hotel being in Timbuktu, not a lot of joining in is on the agenda.