Today it is a swing state, with a popular Republican governor rumored to have a shot at the vice presidency, which helped make St. Paul an ideal site for a 21st century GOP gathering, even though the Twin Cities themselves lean decidedly Democratic.
What's more, the Democrats were seriously eyeing the cities for their event. In 2006, the Democratic mayors of St. Paul and Minneapolis approached both parties with offers to host either national convention.
Eager to snatch the site away from their political rivals, officials for the RNC announced that Minneapolis-St. Paul would host the 2008 convention, more than four months before the contracts were signed.
That gamble put the party in a weakened position when negotiating with city officials and forced the RNC to agree to pay for at least one thing -- a police liability insurance policy -- that might otherwise be the responsibility of the host city. The St. Paul convention is receiving none of the multimillion-dollar aid that other conventions, such as the 2000 gathering in Philadelphia, received from local municipalities.
Signs of a growing local buzz in the Twin Cities area were easy to spot last week, with billboards and signs touting the Republican convention. Officials at the Mall of America were getting ready to spruce up the mega-shopping center with red, white and blue bunting while several residents in the neighborhood around the Xcel Energy Center spent their afternoons planting fresh flowers that were the same colors.
With less than a month to go before the festivities begin, Republican officials are also wrestling with the uncomfortable fact that enthusiasm for their event doesn't appear to be about to break any records.
Nine of the 12 Republicans running in the most competitive Senate races this fall are either skipping the convention or are still weighing whether their time might be better spent campaigning in their home states, according to a recent survey by the National Journal.
Even some of the region's own leaders -- many of whom are members of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor party, as Democrats here are known -- seem more excited by the Democratic National Convention than the gathering in their backyard.
"I was the first mayor to endorse Barack Obama, so of course I'm excited to go to Denver," Rybak said. He is looking forward to the Republicans' arrival, but added: "For us, it's more about the party than the Grand Old Party."
Last week, Rybak and other civic leaders and volunteers gathered at a downtown Minneapolis parking lot, where the air was filled with the sound of rumbling taxis -- all there to get spruced up at a cab wash put together by the Republican National Convention.
But some of the volunteers helping the city put its best foot forward couldn't wash away their disappointment at the guest of honor coming their way.
"I am not a fan of John McCain," said volunteer Chalyn Rice, 21, a University of Wisconsin-Stout student home for the summer break. "It'd be so great if Barack Obama was coming to our town instead of heading to Denver."
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tom.hamburger@latimes.com
p.j. huffstutter@latimes.com
Hamburger reported from Washington, D.C., Huffstutter from St. Paul. Times staff writer Cynthia Dizikes also contributed to this report.
