Officials of the Minnesota Republican Party refer to conventions as being part of the political “process.” “Sham” would be a more descriptive term!

Early May 30, I traveled to Rochester to attend the state convention as an elected alternate from Steele County.

Republican presidential candidate Dr. Ron Paul, R-Texas, addressed a rally organized and attended by his supporters who came from all over Minnesota. The rally was held in a park area behind the Mayo Civic Center as all rooms inside were being used for other purposes, we were told. Rep. Paul spoke to the gathering for about 45 minutes beginning at 7:45 a.m. about 400 attended.

As he was speaking, I thought to myself: This man sounds more like a Founding Father than anyone I’ve ever heard in my lifetime. He has dedicated himself to faithfully abiding by principles spelled out in the U.S. Constitution, a rarity in Washington, D.C. today.

Due to a shortage of Steele County delegates present that morning, my friend and I were immediately seated, six rows from the front, from that vantage point, it was very interesting to see how convention officials controlled the whole “process” (sham).

Knowing the “presumptive presidential candidate,” John McCain, was not in attendance, we hoped that Paul would be asked to speak to the convention. But no, he was not allowed to speak and most likely will be kept from addressing the Republican National Convention in St. Paul in September as well.

Later, another process (sham) to elect 14 delegates was so controlled and managed that no Paul supporters would be sent to the national convention.

State chairman Ron Carey and his minions (yes, people) had effectively silenced the voices of candidate Ron Paul and his supporters and chose “shady” GOP strategist Karl Rove to speak instead.

Bob Nesbit

Owatonna