#GOP2012 Sunday August 26

Parking has been banned in most of downtown Tampa:

Bus service has also been curtailed:

Some people got greedy. This guy was charging $20 to park:

But his lot was empty other than a police car:

I had almost no problems walking around. This sidewalk (I saw people using) was marked as "closed":

And there was one area I was told to leave but had no signage or barriers.

At first there seemed to be tension in the air, the city felt like it was under siege. Some businesses had boarded up their windows:

And posted police notices:

You also saw lots of barriers like this in the road:

Or this:

And you could hear helicopters buzzing overhead:

Police officers were traveling in packs:

They looked bored for the most part, but some were smiling.

After walking around a bit, things seemed a lot more relaxed.

The Salvation Army was everywhere, handing out water:

But they weren't really handing out water. The streets were empty!

I saw more portable toilets than I ever thought possible:

All unused.

And a few news crews:

I noticed some businesses had decided to play it safe, offing Romney AND Obama merchandise:

Or welcoming everyone. Protesters, police, press, and politicians:

Eventually I managed to find some protesters in front of the Sacred Heart Church:

There were more police than protesters.

And a lot of people taking pictures:

(The streets were dead, so that counts as "a lot".)

You'll notice in this picture that one guy is carrying a lot of signs:

Why is he carrying signs? Didn't each person make their own sign with something they wanted to say? Nope! They're mass-produced and made to look individual, then handed to random protesters. This is what astroturfing looks like.

And I saw the same thing at the nearby SEIU protest:

Fake protesters with fake signs. Only there weren't many protesters. This was the SEIU protest about an hour in (and they had been setting up beforehand):

Maybe they should have spent more money on protesters and less money on ice sculptures:

Oh, and there were about a dozen people on the street corner, a few of which were dressed as vaginas: