Tales from the Trail

ST. PAUL – Police in riot gear used pepper spray and smoke bombs against a few hundred violent protesters on Monday, and at least a dozen were arrested outside the arena where the Republican party opened its presidential convention.

In the video above, a police officer lobs a smoke bomb in the direction of the camera.

Officers on horseback, motorcycles and bicycles chased down a group of rock- and bottle-throwing protesters that had broken off from a larger, largely peaceful, march by as many as 10,000 people. The smaller group smashed police car windows and a Macy’s storefront, and a few threw glass bottles at police.

In the video above, police march down Kellogg Avenue in St Paul.

A Reuters reporter saw police handcuffing some of the protesters in a parking lot not far from the convention.

The demonstrators earlier had marched from the Minnesota state capitol to the heavily barricaded Xcel Center, where John McCain will accept the Republican presidential nomination later this week. They chanted anti-war slogans and waved signs criticizing President George W. Bush.

John McCain ‘s selection of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate was the latest twist in an election year that has had no shortage of surprises — especially after Palin announced in the midst of the Republican National Convention that her 17-year-old daughter was pregnant.

Inside the Tent talked to four women in St. Paul — a Democrat, an independent, and two Republicans — about Palin’s impact on the GOP ticket . What impact do you think Palin will have? Submit your answer in the comments section.

Sandra Ross: “Some of the Hillary supporters, they’re aren’t convinced yet, but they’re leaning toward her because they feel a woman should be in a strong leadership position.”

In the hours before Barack Obama‘s acceptance speech at Invesco Field in Denver, Yoel Lefkowitz talks about what he wants to hear the candidate, and what it will take to win the support of Brooklyn’s Hasidic community.

Reuters Inside the Tent has more than 40 delegates and other attendees in Denver and St. Paul, equipped with video cameras to capture the conventions from the ground up. Adam Pasick is the U.S Consumer Media Editor for Reuters.com.

Click here for a full list of contributors at the Democratic National Convention. We’ll be moving to St. Paul for the Republican National Convention next week.

The following video was made by Huffington Post’s Off the Bus, a partner in the Reuters Inside the Tent project.

The video was created by Hunter Weeks, who worked with Off The Bus reporters Dawn Teo, Nathaniel Bach, M.S. Bellows, Jr. and Kelly Nuxoll.

Inside the Tent has more than 40 delegates and other attendees in Denver and St. Paul, equipped with video cameras to capture the conventions from the ground up. TK is not a Reuters employee and any opinions expressed are TK own.

Pedicab driver Laura Caldwell shares her stories from the Democratic National Convention: Military helicopters, armored golf carts, and teenage anarchists with the utmost respect for traffic laws. This video was shot by fellow pedicab operator Teri Robnett, a contributor to Reuters Inside the Tent.

Inside the Tent has more than 40 delegates and other attendees in Denver and St. Paul, equipped with video cameras to capture the conventions from the ground up. Robnett is not a Reuters employee and any opinions expressed are her own.

Click here for a full list of contributors at the Democratic National Convention. We’ll be moving to St. Paul for the Republican National Convention next week.

Craigslist founder Craig Newmark talks to Laurence O’Donnell, a political pundit as well as producer and writer on “The West Wing,” about how the nominating conventions can only be truly appreciated by watching them on TV.

Newmark is a contributor to Inside the Tent, which has more than 40 delegates and other attendees in Denver and St. Paul, equipped with video cameras to capture the conventions from the ground up. He is not a Reuters employee and any opinions expressed are his own.

Click here for a full list of contributors at the Democratic National Convention. We’ll be moving to St. Paul for the Republican National Convention next week.

Barack Obama supporter and activist musician Moby talks to Inside the Tent contributors Shai Goller and Patti Moon about his predictions for the Republican National Convention.

Goller is an undergraduate at the University of Maryland, and Moon is a TV producer and graduate of Northwestern University. Both are working as interns for Reuters during the the Democratic National Convention.

Inside the Tent has more than 40 delegates and other attendees in Denver and St. Paul, equipped with video cameras to capture the conventions from the ground up.

Richard Schiff, the actor best known for playing Toby Ziegler on “The West Wing,” talks about vice presidential candidate Joe Biden. This video was shot by Reuters Inside the Tent contributor Mike Smith.

Inside the Tent has more than 40 delegates and other attendees in Denver and St. Paul, equipped with video cameras to capture the conventions from the ground up. Smith is not a Reuters employee and any opinions expressed are his own.

Click here for a full list of contributors at the Democratic National Convention. We’ll be moving to St. Paul for the Republican National Convention next week.

Dilia Schack, a Hillary Clinton delegate for New York, talks to Reuters Inside the Tent about the senator’s efforts to convince supporters to back Barack Obama.

Clinton offered a rousing plea for Democratic unity on Tuesday evening, promising to work for Obama and challenging her supporters to bury their grudges and rally behind his White House bid.

Reuters Inside the Tent has more than 40 delegates and other attendees in Denver and St. Paul, equipped with video cameras to capture the conventions from the ground up.

Political consultant and pollster Frank Luntz discusses Joe Biden as the Democratic running mate, union support for the party’s presidential hopeful Barack Obama, and recent poll figures. The following video is from Mike Smith, a contributor to Reuters Inside the Tent.

Reuters Inside the Tent has more than 40 delegates and other attendees in Denver and St. Paul, equipped with video cameras to capture the conventions from the ground up. Smith is not a Reuters employee and any opinions expressed are his own.

Click here for a full list of contributors at the Democratic National Convention. We’ll be moving to St. Paul for the Republican National Convention next week.