August 26, 2008 07:36 AM UTC

Hope and Change at the Minnesota State Fair

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• by: gopstudent

Another update from the GOP Convention Site in St. Paul…

It was orientation day here in the massive Xcel Center complex.  After picking up my credentials I spent most of the day touring the facilities and familiarizing myself with the layout and basics of media operations.  I was set free by late afternoon and was lured along with a few other professional volunteers to a place where Democrats and Republicans gather together in perfect harmony to celebrate agriculture, butter sculpture and animal husbandry.

The Minnesota State Fair brings together a cross-section of people and fried food that cannot be seen anywhere else in America.  I noticed as many campaign buttons-on-shirts as fried twinkis-on-sticks.  In the land of Norm Coelman Vs Al Franken there seemed to be an even distribution of support for each Party.  If the fairgoers are any indication, Minnesota is truly going to be a battleground state.  

After watching the hoards of good Minnesotans interact so civilly despite the differences worn on there shirts I was invigorated with a fresh sense of hope.  I imagined a change taking place in the American people; a change for the good of the nation where all citizens realized that they are Americans first, and partisans second.  A change that trumped rhetoric and even platform.

But then I caught a glimpse of Nancy Pelosi giving her speech from Denver and was stopped by an immediate need for an alcoholic beverage.  The ice cold beer I drank did not make Pelosi’s message anymore attractive for me, and in the end I could not bring myself to sleep with the ugly girl.  I quickly reached for the change in my pocket and hoped I had enough for one more beer.  I did.