It’s almost convention time – and for some of you in the GOP, this is a bit of a belated welcome; some of you have been plugging away for a long time, down at the various GOP convention offices in the (rumor has it) Endicott and Pioneer buildings along Robert Street.

But better late than never: Welcome to Saint Paul, Republicans. This is my town.

Well, not entirely mine; I share it with about a quarter of a million other people.

Many of you got posted here from places like DC and Virginia, from the party’s mothership; you’ve struggled through a (modest) winter, cranking out the hours, getting this convention up and running, in a city where you must feel like you’re surrounded by “the enemy”; this is a DFL town, or at least that’s what the polls say.

And yet the polls consistently show that even here – in a government and university town, a hothouse where all manner of left-wing perversion can bloom unfettered by common sense or the free market, a place where the lefty elite opened its hearts and pocketbooks for a former domestic terrorist – around 40% of us consistently vote for conservative candidates. One out of eight public school parents have pulled their kids out of the school system. Taxes are rising, services are falling, and the city unions just keep bellying up for more. A large faction of the local DFL – the part an old DFLer friend of mine called the “Pro-life, pro-assault rifle wing of the DFL” – is lying more or less dormant on the East Side, going to mass on Sunday and tinkering with their cars after work the rest of the week. They gave us three terms of mayors that started as DFLers, but saw the light; Norm Coleman – that’s Senator Coleman, thanks, and it will be for at least six more years – and Randy Kelly, as genuine a profile in political courage as exists in this rote, boring political state.

They represented a crowd of DFLers who might be a tad less enthralled with Barack Obama than the parts of the city west of 35E. Just saying; while McCain enthralls no conservative Republicans (as you’re well aware), he’s the kind of guy who could make a dent in that part of Saint Paul.

I hope you put on a great show, here. I hope you give us local Republicans a little something to work with. Above all, I hope that this show convinces a few people – the people who vote DFL because they really just haven’t thought about it that hard – to give their preconceptions another look.

And I hope you enjoy my city. As you meander around the town, you’ll find – and, being that you’re Republicans, probably not be surprised at all – that quite a few of the businessmen are a whole lot friendlier than some of the politicians are.

There’s a reason for that. Oh, Lordy, is there ever.

Give ’em a listen.

Anyway – welcome to my town. Hope you enjoy your stay!