The Coming aPaulcalypse

Suzanne Gamboa previews the Ron Paul Rally for the Republic with details on how Paul will be treated at the RNC (guess) and how Paul diehards are getting to the event.

Paul has no speaking role at the GOP convention. He said his staff made overtures to the party, but nothing came of its efforts.

Republican Party spokeswoman Joanna Burgos said she had to research whether Paul was invited to speak when asked about a convention role for Paul.

"Our focus is really on this side of the river," Burgos said. "We think there's enough excitement and energy on this side." McCain's campaign spokesman did not return a phone message.

Rally attendees can pay extra to attend an electoral boot camp. To save money, some are bunking outside the city.

Paul backers who aren't staying at the Minneapolis hotel or a budget motel planned to bunk in group cabins at Camp Ihduhapi on Lake Independence, park RVs or pitch tents at campgrounds or head to a Goodhue, Minn., dairy farm for Ronstock '08, an imitation of the 1960s Woodstock counterculture festival. Organizers there say a neighbor of the farm's owner is donating a cow to feed the flock.

Here's some of the combative final promotional material for the event (ostensibly written by the man, the doctor, the rEVOLutionary himself):

The situation our country faces is as dangerous as ever. A certain Democratic senator, recently passed over for the Republican vice-presidential nod, is likely to be our next secretary of state. Both major parties remain committed to militarism and reckless spending—and inflationism to fund it all.

At their convention the Democrats uttered barely a peep about the surveillance state, the police state, and the Bush administration's disastrous foreign policy. Needless to say, there was not a word about the Fed and what it's done to our economy. We can only imagine what the GOP Convention will have in store for us.

The Rally for the Republic is the first step in alerting our countrymen to these dangers, and holding out the message of freedom as the only remedy. We must resist the false choices the two major parties are giving us.

Here's the schedule:

12:30—Intro: Tucker Carlson
12:40—National Anthem: Matt Colvin
12:50—Invocation: Barb Davis White
12:55—Howard Phillips
1:10—Doug Wead
1:30—Tom Woods
1:50—Grover Norquist
2:10—Lew Rockwell
2:30—Bill Kauffman
2:50—Special Guest
3:10—Bruce Fein
3:35—Gov. Jesse Ventura
4:05—John Tate‚ Campaign for Liberty Presentation
4:25—Gov. Gary Johnson
5:00—Aimee Allen
6:00—Break
7:00—Intro: Barry Goldwater Jr.
7:05—Ron Paul
8:05—Sara Evans
9:30—End of Program
9:30—Jimmie Vaughan After Party

Yes, Grover Norquist will share a green room with Lew Rockwell. The balance between the more nationalist, paleo Paul backers (Phillips, Woods) and the more media-friendly ones (Ventura, Johnson) is more or less 50-50. I'm not sure what I think about a whole hour of Aimee Allen. Also: If I read this correctly, Paul is speaking the same time that Rudy "Ask Me How Many Delegates I Won!" Giuliani will be grunting about 9/11 at the Xcel Center.