Are you ready for another national political convention?

Posted at 11:05 AM on May 21, 2010 by Bob Collins (8 Comments)

It's been almost two years since the Republican National Convention was held in St. Paul and the court dockets are still clogged with the aftermath of the protests that broke out.

Want to have another one?

Minneapolis is vying to host the 2012 Democratic National Convention, the Minneapolis St. Paul Business Journal reports.

The paper says St. Paul's Xcel Center was not included in the city's application, a smackdown of the smaller twin by its bigger sibling.

Update 12:01 p.m. - The blog, DemConWatch says Minneapolis' bid "came out of left field."

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Comments (8)

I don't think they will get it (remember they applied for it two years ago also, and it went to Denver.)

If they do get it, I think that Minnesota will be kinder to the Dem's then the republicans.

If they do get it, it's a mid term election, and people just don't care as much, hopefully not enough to riot in the streets.

Posted by jon | May 21, 2010 11:40 AM

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Jon, they're applying for the 2012 convention--definitely not a midterm election though maybe not as exciting since presumably Obama will easily be renominated.

Posted by Julia | May 21, 2010 12:09 PM

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Let Minneapolis have it. Then they can know how much anyone who lived, worked, or rode public transit anywhere near downtown Saint Paul suffered through the RNC.

Maybe Saint Paul can reap some painless economic benefits this time around instead of just getting all the headaches.

Posted by Rick | May 21, 2010 1:12 PM

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My first thought was that we don't learn a thing. My second thought is that as long as we have the Mississippi as a kind of moat there is some more positive action we can take to contain the craziness from infecting us in Saint Paul.

Posted by Erik Hare | May 21, 2010 1:14 PM

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If its like the 2008 Dem convention Bob photographed in Denver, it looks like it'll be a lot more fun and beneficial to locals than the '08 RNC event in St Paul.

Posted by bsimon | May 21, 2010 1:59 PM

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Allegedly the Dems wanted to come to Minneapolis in 2008, but the Republicans beat them to it. So we didn't lose to Denver, the Dems just waited too long.

At least that's what I heard from Howard Dean.

Posted by Gary | May 21, 2010 3:21 PM

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Gary is correct. The Democrats were in active negotiations with St. Paul. The GOP knew this and moved to sign the contract with St. Paul before the Democrats could make a final decision. See here and here for reports at the time.

Posted by Matt | May 21, 2010 9:03 PM

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Given the fact that since the first Republican National Convention held on our soil in 1892 we've given the nation Hubert Humphrey, Gene McCarthy, Walter Mondale, and Paul Wellstone, I was baffled that the GOP would return in 2008. I think it's high time we had a Democratic Convention to celebrate our (as a state) contributions to the party on a national level. I'm guessing (and hoping) we'd be much more well behaved this time around.

Posted by Kevin M | May 24, 2010 12:11 AM

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