http://www.twincities.com/ci_6214599?source=rss&nclick_check=1War protesters revving up for St. Paul in '08
But turnout estimates vary as well-organized coalition plans for GOP convention
BY JASON HOPPIN
Pioneer Press
Article Last Updated: 06/24/2007 12:02:42 AM CDT
ROSEMONT, Ill. - Forty-five thousand volunteers, delegates and media members for the 2008 Republican National Convention in St. Paul?
It's chump change to these guys.
If tens of thousands of protesters - perhaps even hundreds of thousands - show up in St. Paul next year, it's because the groundwork was laid this weekend in a low-slung hotel near Chicago O'Hare International Airport.
United for Peace & Justice, the nation's largest anti-war coalition, held its Third National Assembly here. Made up of 1,400 organizations - from activists to communists to pacifists - the group has demonstrated an ability to organize massive demonstrations, including half a million people on the eve of the 2004 Republican convention in New York.
And this weekend, the 2008 Republican National Convention, to be held Sept. 1-4 in St. Paul, seemed to be on a lot of people's minds.
"We are like different rivers," Philadelphia activist Baltazar Pinguel said, addressing a 300-strong coalition of peace activists. "But we will merge into one sea!"
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