Health Care Rally Today, Saint Paul, Minnesota (Photos)

[MineralMan]

The DFL headquarters in Saint Paul was the scene of a health care rally, sponsored by the Minnesota DFL, MoveOn, OFA, and a couple of unions. Speakers included Betty McCollum and Keith Ellison, both House Members, along with Mayor R.T. Ryback of Minneapolis and Chris Coleman of Saint Paul.

About 500 supporters were there, along with maybe 40 Teabaggers. The supporters were very vocal in their support for the legislators, both of whom pledged support for the Public Option. The Teabaggers, in their impotence, were kept behind a rope line outside the DFL headquarters parking lot, so they could do little but hold up their poorly-crafted signs and yell from time to time. Their shouts were completely drowned out by the roar from the crowd of supporters.

Two local TV news crews were on hand, one from the local Fox Affiliate and one from another network, but I'm not sure which. They spend almost no time filming the teabaggers.

I grabbed three photos with my wife's Blackberry:



Keith Ellison gave a rousing speech in favor of the Public Option



The crowd was very attentive and enthusiastic.

[kstewart33]

1. Nice photos. Thanks for the encouraging post! nt

[MineralMan]

2. My wife and I were carrying this sign, double-sided on sticks.

Several people asked where we got them. I had two extra, and gave them to the first two.

[MineralMan]

3. TV Coverage of the event...

WCCO, the CBS affiliate in the Twin Cities gave the rally a full minute on the 5PM and 6PM news. They focused on the speakers, did some crowd shots (your's truly and Mrs. MineralMan were in one of them) and interviewed one supporter and one protester.

Our local Fox affiliate was there, too, but their evening news hour was truncated by a baseball game, and they skipped the story. I've got the 9 PM news going to the DVR, and will see how they covered it in the morning.