From the front lines of the RNC, part 1

I’m not attending the Republican National Convention next week, but I will be in NYC reporting occasionally on the effects of the convention on the city’s population, if any. If this morning’s commute is any indication, security is ratcheting up around Madison Square Garden. As I boarded the 1/9 at 14th Street around 8:45 am, a NYC police officer checked every single car of the uptown subway train before departure. That is, 10 or 11 police officers each checked one of the 10 or 11 subway cars by sticking his head in and checking if people were spitting on the floor, had their feet up on the seats, were engaged in any form of gambling, or were taking unauthorized photographs. This was probably a show of force more than anything else because there were no such checks by even a single police officer at 18th, 23rd, 28th, 34th, or 42nd Streets.

Sidenote: In looking for the convention web site, I ran across the Republican National Committee site and was interested to find that much of the front page real estate is devoted to attacking John Kerry. Figuring the Democrats’ approach wouldn’t be much different (can you tell I’m cynical about politics?), I checked out the DNC site and was pleasantly surprised to see that it focuses mostly on Kerry & Edwards, the issues, and how people can help out. It will be interesting to see how the two approaches work for the respective candidates.

And one more thing…these “issues” that the parties are attacking their opposition on…what a bunch of bush league crap. The Republicans saying that Kerry is bad because he’s wealthy? The Dems saying the same thing about Bush? What a joke! I thought the campaign folks were supposed to be at the top of their game. A few Madison Avenue ad guys could run Jeffrey Dahmer for President and outwit these knuckleheads.