New York, New York

The event promises to be sui generis. Organizers have promised a “different kind of convention,” because George W. Bush is a “different kind of Republican.” Fittingly, then, this will be the first Republican convention in New York. But Republicans may find that they have entered hostile territory. New York is the epicenter of Blue State America, of course. The Democrats have held conventions there several times before. Which makes sense. In New York City, Democrats outnumber Republicans five to one.

The numbers involved this year are impressive. The convention’s cost is estimated at $91 million. Some 50,000 people are scheduled to attend, including an estimated 14,000 journalists, photographers, and television producers. New York City plans to recruit 8,000 volunteers for the effort. The Secret Service is charged with event security, but it will be complemented by almost all of New York’s 37,000 police officers. And the convention will be held inside Madison Square Garden, which sits atop Pennsylvania Station, through which about 600,000 people pass every day.

One number remains an X-factor, however: how many protesters will show up. No one knows for sure. In February, the New York Times‘s Michael Slackman reported that estimates range “from 500,000 people to a million.” A few of the groups planning protests: Radical Teachers, World War III Arts-in-Action, and the Campaign to Demilitarize the Police. So are the Yippies, who in 1968 became (in)famous when they nominated a pig outside the Democratic convention in Chicago.

And trouble won’t be restricted to the space outside Madison Square Garden. Some protesters plan to sign up as volunteers, so they can “infiltrate” the convention and cause whatever havoc they see fit inside the security perimeter. Still, the man in charge of security for the convention, a Secret Service agent, says the Service is prepared for “any number” of protestors.

SO SECURITY WILL BE HIGH. Officials haven’t announced the exact perimeter of the security cordon around Madison Square Garden, but they have said what life will be like for those inside it. All vehicles will be screened before they can enter the area. Store deliveries will be restricted to certain times and locations. All trashcans and mailboxes will be spirited out of the area. Every train that enters or exits Penn Station may carry security guards. In fact, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg once raised the possibility that Penn Station could shut down altogether: “If the Secret Service feels that it’s necessary we’ll certainly talk to them,” he said recently. “If they came and said that, you know, for two hours or something they felt that there was a heightened security during the presidential speech above, that wouldn’t be the world’s worst thing.” Many New Yorkers probably disagree.

Read about the approaching convention and protests, and it’s not hard to get uneasy. What if a million protesters show up? And what if they start attacking police? And what if the police fight back? After all, when it comes to protesters, a few can go a long way. Here’s how master biographer William Manchester describes one political convention:

The convention in question was Chicago, 1968.

It’s worth asking who’ll be held responsible if it all goes sour. Yes, New York City officials courted both the Democratic and Republican National Committees for the 2004 election. The Democrats passed, and serendipitously will hold their convention in John Kerry’s hometown of Boston. But who decided Republicans should travel to New York City? Who made such a bold decision? Who could possibly have such hubris?

The answer is: someone who makes a lot of bold decisions; someone who’s been accused of hubris a lot, actually.

According to the New York Times, it was President Bush himself.

Matthew Continetti is a reporter at The Weekly Standard.