The city of Boston put a lot of effort into garnering the 2004 Democratic Convention. Officials promised residents that the convention would bring in a great deal of money and prestige to the city, and was even more delighted when favorite son John Kerry clinched the nomination.
That was then.
Now, we find out that the Secret Service wants to close down I-93 after 4:00 p.m. during the convention, because it runs right next to the Fleet Center. This closing started a chain reaction of more closings, until several highways and main thoroughfares were added to the list. That list kept expanding until it reached out as far as Route 95, and beyond. Traffic could be backed up as far as New Hampshire. It got so bad that Boston
Ah yes, New England politics…I have always been fascinated by how such a small area can harbor regional divides held with such amazing tenacity. Those freaking Massholes! =)
This whole Democratic convention thing really does stink, though. There was a lot of talk not too long about about how NYC was going to ‘reject’ the Republicans because they would be too intrusive in daily life. Well, I hope Bostonions weren’t laughing too hard then =).
But hey, anything that gets any part of liberal New England pissed off at the Democrats is music to my ears.
Actually, Bush will accept public financing for the general election. Neither he or Kerry accepted public financing for the primary election.
As one of the few Massholes disillusioned with the Democratic party, I believe that all blame will flow off their backs. The governor (who happens to be a Republican) did make a suggestion to use a brand new convention center that would have required less traffic distress, but it was declaimed a Republican plot to do something or other.
On the other hand, you have New York, which is very handily planning on accomodating a political convention without a drastic shutdown. If that happened in New York, I believe that there’d be a riot, let alone being pissed off at a political party.
The Dems should tell the GOP to go ahead and have their 4 day event in Boston during the convention. Do they think they could book any hotel rooms?