The Republican Convention is being held at Madison Square Garden in New York City from August 30th through September 2nd, 2004.

New Yorkers' political beliefs are as varied as every thing else about them, but the majority of the city's residents vote for liberal Democrats.

This year New York has a Republican mayor and the State's Governor is also a Republican. Following the September 11th attacks, the GOP decided to come to the city to show support.

And now they are here...2,509 delegates, over 15,000 international credentialed media*, thousands of volunteers and an estimated 500,000 to 1,000,000 protestors.

Guest speakers scheduled for the four nights of the convention include former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Senator John McCain (R-AZ), First Lady Laura Bush, Secretary of Education Rod Paige, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Mrs. Lynne Cheney, Vice President Dick Cheney, New York Governor George Pataki, NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Senator Zell Miller (D-GA)... and of course, the President will make an appearance on Thursday night to accept the nomination.

The media attention splits down the middle on covering events outside in the streets of New York and inside the Garden at the GOP Convention. There was plenty of hype before the event warning of anarchists rioting in the street and the media saw a great ratings opportunity. After all, how exciting is a political convention for most people? ...but rioting in the streets is always a good story.

So far, the demonstrations have been far from the predicted mayhem. The protesters are not a rioting mass of hysterical anarchists, although there are a few fringe elements in the crowds. The bulk of the marchers are young, but there are plenty of parents with their children, moms with baby carriages and senior citizens swelling the ranks of demonstrators.

The predicted clashes with police haven't been happening, either. There have been a couple of isolated incidents where police or protesters overreacted, but for the most part, there has been a calm cooperation. The crowds are doing their civic duty by protesting administration policies they think need to be changed and the police are doing their jobs keeping order.

The demonstrations have not all been covered by the media. The photos here are from a march on 2nd Avenue the afternoon of August 30th. Nowhere near the numbers of the giant demonstration on Sunday, this one was about seven or eight blocks worth of people walking 8, 10, 12 and 15 in a row. There were baby strollers and wheelchairs, drums and signs and flags. At times, the beat was so catching that the crowd on the side watching and the police were tempted to clap along... momentarily.

To believe that these gatherings are hysterical anarchists is to demean the American political process. Democracies flourish when dissent is welcome, even encouraged. A government of the people needs to listen to what the people have to say - raising your voice in protest is a time honored method of participation in American democracy. New York is happy to have the convention crowd in town, but just as happy to have the rest of the political process working here.

Democracy is alive and well in the United States and if you don't think it is, just spend a few days marching with the throngs in New York!

*Figure on media coverage from Ms.Alyssa McClenning, Deputy Press Secretary for Specialty Projects with the 2004 Republican National Convention interviewed by Carol Devine-Molin on gopusa.com.

Related Web Resources:
2004 Republican National Convention
Republican Convention Tourist Guide
The Green Papers Republican Convention 2004 Tourist Guide
NYC Host Committee 2004

Photos by Margaret Chiffriller ©2004

August 31 , 2004