The Xcel Center

Well, I promised you photos of the Xcel Center, but the Secret Service disagreed. I was not allowed to take photos--they don't want potential troublemakers to know about the layout in advance. But I took plenty of shots of the outside:

The Xcel Center, I learned, is a converted hockey stadium. You'd never know to see it--the Republicans have, in the space of a month, completely converted it. A giant TV screen--the second-largest HDTV in the world, after the one at the Beijing Olympics--and the podium in front of it dominate the arena. The delegates sit on the floor of the hockey rink (without ice, of course), surrounded by thickly carpeted walkways, so that they have to descend into the seating area. We watched while the media crew for the Republicans tested their cameras and fast-forwarded through video backdrops on the TV screen. The convention hall is a sight to behold--and I will be uploading photos and video once the convention starts next Monday.

At the seminar, we heard from former Oklahoma congressman Mickey Edwards, our politician-in-residence. Edwards was a member of the Republican leadership during his time in Congress, before he became involved in a banking scandal and was voted out. Now, needless to say, most of the students at our seminar are dyed-in-the-wool Republicans, and I expected Edwards to throw them some red meat. But he hasn't. He's been quite forthright in his condemnation of President Bush's administration--though he agrees with Bush politically, he believes Bush has crossed too many lines, both legal and political. This morning, the room suddenly just tore into him, because they believed he was too liberal. A room full of diehard Republicans lighting into a respected conservative intellectual for being too liberal...a worrisome sign for a Democrat in their midst. But it's just what I signed up for.