After more than 40 years of Republican Party politicking, K.J. McDonald is finally at his first national convention.

He has been to plenty of state conventions, but this is the first time he has been able to afford the national one, he said. He drives into St. Paul every morning from his home in Watertown.

“It’s probably the culmination of my political activity,” said the former state representative.

“It’s a real honor and a privilege to be here,” McDonald said before Tuesday night’s session convened in the Xcel Energy Center at 6 p.m. Tuesday.

K.J. McDonald: Photo by Forrest Adams at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Republican National Convention, 2008

Prior to that, he was at a rare hotel fundraiser by radio talk-show host Laura Ingraham for District 6 Congresswoman Michelle Bachman, who is seeking re-election in November. Throughout the day he filled the time with speeches and activities extolling the Republican message.

Well-known among Carver County Republicans as the one who brought them into the Party, McDonald is the consistent conservative, the bearer of the message of less government. A long-time activist and advocate for the conservative cause, he’s been infected with the ideals of individual liberty and personal responsibility through limited government intervention since 1963. Raised in a family of Democrats, it was about that time that McDonald, a veteran of the Korean War, heard a young Democrat in Minneapolis speak and was so impressed with the message that he decided to get active in the Republican Party.

The political discourse, as he has watched and participated in it, has changed since the 1960s. But some things have remained the same. Reflecting on the demonstrations by anarchists and peace marchers in St. Paul and comparing it to riots at the Democrat National Convention in Chicago in 1968, McDonald pulled no punches. The Party receiving the vitriol is different, but the protesters are the same, he said.

“Of course the peaceniks at that time, and the anarchists, were rebelling against the war in Vietnam, which became a war that the politicians wouldn’t let our military win,” he said. “The left-wing extremists at that time were very much opposed to American involvement anywhere in the world that would have stopped the advancement of the socialistic, communist system. Those same people, many of them, and the younger family members of those anarchists, are here now. The people who want to come out here and demonstrate for peace in the world should be heard, but the anarchists, the phony hypocrites who cause war on the local level, belong in jail.”

Secret Service and National Guard troops stood guard around the perimeter of the Xcel, increasing their presence through the evening. Bus loads of Republican delegates drove through security gates on the perimeter and each was given clearance to continue each time they passed through a new security gate. Several gates later, the delegates exited the bus and went through more security before they were allowed into the Xcel - check points that made the ones in an airport seem meek.

Somewhere else in St. Paul, angry and peaceful demonstrators were marching and shouting. Through the night, via text message, reports came in that elsewhere in St. Paul, protesters were getting tear gassed, lying in the street and writhing in pain.

None of the delegates knew it. They were excited, cheerful and appreciative of the evening’s speakers.

On the speaking lineup were House Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio, Sen. Norm Coleman of Minnesota, First Lady Laura Bush, President Bush via satellite from the White House, Sen. Fred Thompson and Sen. Joe Lieberman. All extolled Sen. John McCain and his running mate, while berating Democratic challenger Sen. Barack Obama as inexperienced and wrong for the country.
After the evening was over, as delegates filed out of the Xcel, McDonald said the evening was all he thought it would be.

“The speeches were enthusiastic, the crowds were enthusiastic. We’re all inspired to get out and work hard to make sure that the good message that John McCain and his forces have will get to the people,” he said. “It filled me with enthusiasm and excitement to get out and get the message to the American people.”