ST. PAUL, Minn. — Political memorabilia in St. Paul has been tough to find at times… until today. Vendors rolled into St. Paul and set up shop selling everything from t-shirts to tote bags to buttons.

Just yesterday, Rice Park, just a few blocks away from the Xcel Energy Center, was the center of protests. Today, some protesters were still lingering as people crowded around vendors trying to claim their piece of political history.

One couple from New Hampshire, who just happened to make a stop at Rice Park, were eager to pick up some McCain/Palin swag. They spoke about their loot, the convention and Sarah Palin’s speech Wednesday:

Although convention fanfare has been around all week, everything is about Sarah Palin, with people on the streets casually talking about her speech Wednesday. From the word on the street to the trinkets for sale, its clear that she is a focal point of this convention, at least so far.

ST. PAUL, Minn. — As we arrived at the Xcel Center on Thursday for the final night of the Republican National Convention, preparations were in full swing for John McCain’s acceptance speech.

Stage Before

Preparations Underway...

The main stage in the Xcel Center has been adjusted for the acceptance speech tonight, noticeably absent was half of the actual stage and the neon lit stairs that led up to the podium, although those stairs were heavily guarded at all times. The front half of the stage has been removed and replaced by a runway like path leading into the audience.

The runway leading into the crowd of delegates looks strikingly similar to the town hall forums that McCain is most comfortable with on the campaign trail.

ST. PAUL – One day after holding a 10,000 person convention in neighboring Minneapolis, Ron Paul made a stop at the Xcel Energy Center Wednesday to give interviews to media outlets based here. 

We asked him about his thoughts on not being invited to speak at the convention.

ST. PAUL – Strategically placed in the center of Rice Park in St. Paul is the MSNBC platform for their RNC coverage.  Gates keep the public a mere fifteen feet away from the news set, and many people showed up to watch the coverage in person.  But the Wednesday broadcast hit a few road bumps, as protesters from all backgrounds showed up to speak their minds behind the set.

Ron Paul’s loyal fans continued to raise his campaign signs above their heads.  Members of PETA showed up in pig costumes.  

But the protest that stole the show (pun?) was a group of 9/11 conspiracy theorists.  Holding up signs in the background of the broadcast saying “Investigate 9/11″ and “9/11 Truth Now,” these protesters said 9/11 was an inside job by our government and that the truth was covered up with help from the media.

They were there to protest MSNBC, which, according to a protester, ”failed to uncover the truth about 9/11 during the broadcasts that followed the events.”  We had a chance to catch up more with that protester to find out exactly why he believed 9/11 was a conspiracy.  My interview didn’t last long though.  The following ensued just after my first question was asked:

That is only the first few minutes of the debate!  The two men went on for at least 5 more minutes.

For the general public there to watch a live television set in action, the protesters were, in the words of one woman, just making people angry.

ST. PAUL, Minn. — In an effort to bring attention to treatment of prisoners, Amnesty International has brought a replica of a cell from the prison at Guantanamo Bay to the Republican National Convention in St. Paul. Members of Amnesty International from around the country have come to St. Paul to bring awareness to detainee treatment issues.

The stop in St. Paul is just one of many on the Guantanamo Cell Tour that is traveling around the country. Previously, the cell made a stop at the Democratic National Convention in Denver. The cell measures 10 ft x 7 ft x 8 ft and weighs 1650 pounds.

The cell consists of a steel toilet, floursecent lights and a sliding metal door. After being closed into the cell as a mock “prisoner” I must say, the space is unusually small, but not much different than what comes to mind when I think of a prison cell.

It’s worth mentioning that there’s no way I would have found this event if I had not seen the street crews around the Xcel Center sporting orange jumpsuits.

This morning, Sally Kidd, photographer Eric Jensen and I were working our way through about 50 live shots.  We were knocking them out, one right after another.  Then, we had a quick break, so I peered over the edge of the skybox to see what I could see.

That’s when I saw her.

Cream colored skirt suit.  Tall black pumps.  Hair perfectly pulled into that now famous up-do.  The glasses.  The smile.  The whole bit.  Could it be?  At 6:30 in the morning?

Sarah Palin?  The Republican nominee for Vice President?  Right before my eyes?  I was in desperate need of caffeine, so I wasn’t 100% trusting my own judgement.  Sally and Eric turned and looked as well.

It WAS her!  Eric and I jumped to get our cameras. (our digital cameras – Eric’s fancy shmancy television camera was of course perfectly framing Sally’s live shots)

We snapped a couple of shots as Sarah Palin toured the stage where she will speak at the GOP Convention tonight.

Palin Takes the Stage

Word certainly traveled fast.  Within minutes, the media swarmed the stage.  She is after all, “the big get” right now as we media types like to say.

Yep.

Mic check.  It worked.  You can bet the Xcel Center will be booming when her voice hits that microphone tonight!

So, what was supposed to be Night Two of this convention became the real Night One tonight - and sitting up in our skybox, you couldn’t help thinking: “this is more like it”…

After a really quiet night last night – no fanfare, no big speeches, no music or entertainment to rival the Democrats’ big show – we were left wondering if this convention would get off the ground even after the threat of the hurricane had passed. But tonight there was real energy in the hall. We’ll see where it goes from here but things are clearly looking up for the folks who came out. 

We did have a few minutes of high alert here in the media compound outside the arena – we heard a few loud bangs as police confronted protesters a couple of blocks away, and from our vantage point it wasn’t clear where the trouble was or if something had exploded inside our fenced area. Everyone went running to see what was up - but it apparently was the result of police using so-called “flash-bang” devices to disperse protesters and as far as we know, no one was hurt.  It seems that protests are likely to continue here throughout the week, in spite of the massive police presence we’ve noticed on our way in to the city in the mornings.

ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Ron Paul for President campaign rolled into The Target Center in Minneapolis Tuesday amid a throng of supporters. After two days of celebratory events, Paul is throwing a large convention just a few miles away from the Republican National Convention at the Xcel Center in St. Paul.

Ron Paul supporters from all around the country have converged on Minneapolis for the “Rally for the Republic”. The campaign sold all of the 10,000 seats in the arena for a price of $17.76, a nod to Paul’s Constitutionalist principles.

The arena was packed with people of all ages from young children to some who have followed the figure for decades. Along with people who had purchased tickets, thousands waited in lines snaking through the venue over the sky walk and into the neighboring mall, for a chance to get into the arena.

As the  convention hall was prepped for opening, Paul waited with supporters and listened to his campaign band. Those who were not ticket holders or wishful ticket holders lined the streets around the arena. Even without the attendance numbers finalized, it’s clear that the Twin Cities are also Ron Paul territory.

ST. PAUL – People took to the open forum stage outside the Republican National Convention Tuesday to speak up on contemporary issues.  Topics on the stage ranged from war to abortion.  After a startling display of protest the day before, organizers of the open forum said they were surprised to see such a small audience turn out to the public viewing area.

Only a handful of people came to the public viewing area outside the RNC.  Anti-abortion activist Brian Gibson spoke at the open forum despite the low turnout.  He talked about abortion, when life begins and how abortion affects the people of the U.S..

Gibson described his goals for his speech and disappointment with the turnout.  Organizers said the idea for the stage came from the convention four years ago in New York, where the stage turnout was a big success.

The open forum stage outside the Xcel Energy Center will host speakers throughout the RNC.  Speakers applied for permits and were selected at random by the City of St. Paul.  The stage is set from Sept. 1-4 fro 8 a.m. to 8 p.m..  Each speaker receives a 50 minute time slot.  For more information or to view the open forum stage schedule, go to the city of St. Paul website.

ST. PAUL – …Depends on how important you’re viewed in November.  The seating chart isn’t as simple as alphabetical order or done geographically.  Each party gives important swing states the best seats.  (The nominee’s home state also gets good seats.)

So which states does the McCain campaign and the RNC want front and center?

That’s Ohio with front row seats, followed down the middle by Florida and Pennsylvania.  All three states are seen as vitally important in November (Pennsylvania a bigger reach for Republicans, but Florida and Ohio are certainly viewed as “must-win”).

Branching off from there, you’ll find plenty of battlegrounds up front:

So who has the bad seats?  You won’t be surprised to discover left-leaning Vermont with some of the worst seats on the floor. (For the record, it’s not last row.  That’s where American Samoa is sitting.)

But what about Alaska?  They’re also towards the back, and their governor is the vice presidential nominee.  You’d think they’d move up front (when Joe Biden was named the Democratic VP, Delaware went from last row to first.), but so far, Alaska is not going anywhere.