Minnesotans for Global Warming has to be the hottest political groups in the Twin Cities. They jokingly ask people to stop breathing since we contribute to CO2 the global emissions.

I had the good fortune of meeting the brains behind M4GW this past weekend.  Check out their blog.

Gary Mathes, an Alaskan native, is out pushing the none-of-the-above ticket as part of his “VOTE 4 JESUS” campaign on the streets of Denver and St. Paul. (“Denver was work, but St. Paul has been a vacation.”)

Meet Gary Mathes: Jesus’ one-man motorcycle brigade (more at CityPages)

Jesus is just all right with this guy (more at StarTribute)

“The Lord does not like pride, but all these candidates are proud. Pride is an abomination unto the Lord. That’s why I don’t vote. I won’t vote for either of them. But I will support whoever wins. I’m just an honorable, humble American who loves his country.”

Commenting on Sarah Palin’s qualifications:

Sarah Palin, with the $1,200 energy package she provided to Alaska residents, paid for his trip. Mathes says. That doesn’t mean he’s a fan, though. “She’s as smart as a rock,” he laughs. “She was a basketball star and a second-runner-up in the Miss Alaska pageant, and the governor’s race in Alaska is a popularity contest. She’s not as experienced as she needs to be, but look at the ones who are experienced. They aren’t doing a lot for us.”

Nonetheless, Mathes is excited about the possibility of having an Alaskan in the executive branch. “Maybe if the old man dies of natural causes, we’ll have an Alaskan president,” he chuckled. “She’s not ready though, but she’s a good girl.”

The Daily Planet posted part one their unofficial visitor’s guide to the 2008 RNC and the twin cities to assist the many out-of-towners during their visit. And check out their RNC blog. The Pioneer Press (TwinCities.com) has an RNC page too.

An Introduction to Minneapolis St. Paul

So you’re very excited, I’m sure, to be coming to Minneapolis for the RNC. Minneapolis is, of course, a fine city, home to the Vikings, Twins, and Timberwolves, as well as the Walker Art Center and the internationally renowned Guthrie Theatre. It’s a center of economics and industry, whose name literally means “water city.”

Well too bad, binky, because the RNC isn’t going to be held in Minneapolis. It’s going to be held in St. Paul. Get it straight, or you’re really going to make the East Siders feel bad.

Seriously, how many of you have an older sibling? I don’t, but I can pretend I do to give you this analogy: don’t you just hate their freakin’ guts? Well, that’s how St. Paul feels about Minneapolis, except for the fact that Minneapolis is a little bit younger than St. Paul, but whatever. Point is, the good citizens of St. Paul feel a bit slighted every time someone like Katie Couric or Michele Bachmann or Gov. Tim Pawlenty goes on television to declare that everyone should come to Minneapolis for the convention. [2] Given that Minneapolis always seems to get all the publicity, all the love and attention, its pictures put up on the state refrigerator – well, it stings.

So remember, as you’re going to the Xcel Energy Center, home of the Minnesota Wild, that you’re not in Minneapolis. You’re in St. Paul. And so if you see a local, make sure you complement them on the beauty of St. Paul. “Boy, St. Paul sure is lovely,” you’ll say, and the locals will smile broadly, and say, “Well, you know, yeah, I suppose it’s a nice enough town.” Which is practically a touchdown dance around these parts.

Of course, if you’re attending an event in Minneapolis, feel free to ignore all of this; Minneapolitans often forget St. Paul exists, and will look at you strangely if you bring the city up.

the rest here

Interesting article about “Governor No” who has “racked up more vetoes this year than any governor in Minnesota’s history.”

More GOP news from the CityPages Elephants in the Room blog.

Hillary Clinton gave the Twin Cities a shoutout in the line of the night during her speech at the Democratic National Convention.

After ticking off John McCain’s agenda–with a pointed reference to him not believing women deserve equal pay for equal work–Hillary used the geography of the Republican National Convention to deliver a bon mot that cemented the “McSame” meme:

“With an agenda like that, it makes sense that George Bush and John McCain will be together next week in the Twin Cities. Because these days they’re awfully hard to tell apart.” more on McSame quotation

And don’t forget the activists – Minneapolis cops detain activist journalists, confiscate their cameras

Three activist journalists in town to videotape the RNC protests were stopped, questioned, and searched by police officers early this morning and had their cameras, a computer, and personal effects seized, one of the three, Vlad Teichberg, told City Pages this afternoon.

Northwest Named Official Airline for 2008 Republican National Convention

Thursday, January 03, 2008

(SAINT PAUL, Minn.) – The 2008 Republican National Convention today announced that Northwest Airlines will serve as the Official Airline for the nominating convention. The airline will transport thousands of delegates, alternate delegates, Republican Party leaders, members of the media, and convention guests to Minneapolis-Saint Paul in September.

Here’s my blurry cell phone camera picture of the excitement (imaging hearing “USA! USA! USA!” in the background). You can tell that’s a gold metal, right?

On an unrelated subject, the low is supposed to be 48F here in Minneapolis tonight!

Irish Festival in St. Paul, Minnesota

According to this site, the St. Paul Irish Festival is the 6th largest in the US.

Between 1932 and 1972, nine of the ten St. Paul mayors have been Irish, according to this article.

For the second annual “Extreme Race Day,” the Shakopee horse track pulled in an estimated 15,000 curious onlookers. While horses raced all day, the crowd came to see a different kind of thoroughbred. And they’d only get one chance — yep, one race to decide the faster ostrich in Minnesota (by way of Kansas).

Video here.

Camels racing too.

StarTribune article.