ST. PAUL — Night and Day. That’s the not-so-surprising demographic difference I’m seeing between the Democratic and Republican national conventions.

 

As I write this, I’m sitting inside the Xcel Center in St. Paul, watching people mill about as delegates wait for the much-anticipated speech by Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who John McCain chose this week to share his ticket.

 

I’ll be sitting with the New Mexico delegation tonight and am anxious to see what they’ll say about Palin’s historic address.

 

It’s chilly outside and over-air conditioned inside, so everyone’s a bit bundled up. The vast majority of men are wearing suits and ties – navy blue jackets with red ties are a fave - and many of the women are swaddled in scarves and tripping around in impossibly high heels.

 

I did not get the memo.

 

Days ago in Denver, the weather was perfect; almost too hot, as casually-dressed people strolled the sunny streets around the Pepsi Center and packed Invesco Field on the convention’s final night.

 

I’m afraid the temperature metaphor is an apt one for describing how I feel about attending both conventions.

 

What chills me most as I sit here at Republican Central is the lack of diversity I see as I simply sit and watch the people – how they express themselves (or don’t), how they dress, their average age and their racial makeup. I’m not saying it’s scientific, but it’s one of my favorite things to do. I think of it as a requirement for getting to know the culture of any place or gathering and it has served me well thus far. (Of course, talking to people is another key test…but I’ll be doing plenty of that later tonight.)

 

 

Earlier in the day, as I rode an official convention bus from Minneapolis to the Xcel Center in St. Paul, I couldn’t help but notice I was the youngest person on the bus — and the only black one. To repeat: I was the only person of color in a group that came from all over the country to celebrate being Republican.

 

I’m not talking about the New Mexico delegation, a diverse mix of Hispanics, Anglos and Native Americans.

 

I’m talking about Republicans – the most active and fervent and proud – from all over the country.

 

Once I got to Xcel, I stepped up my search for people of color. Except for non-partisans – reporters, Xcel staffers and the police – I found few. The few black Republicans I did see refused to make eye contact.

 

What was that all about?

 

And in a political convention hall, where people are supposed to be as crazy as they ever get to show their support for their candidate, I saw no buttons, no T-shirts, no hats, no signs, no nothing for John McCain. Nor for Sarah Palin, the vice-presidential nominee who that night was giving the most important speech of her life.

 

So I started thinking back a few days to Denver and I remembered how comfortable I felt walking around the city.

 

Black people – check. Young people – check. Asians, Hispanics, Native Americans, gays, straights – check.

 

All wearing the most clever and inventive Obama/Biden get-ups you could imagine.

 

Especially on the city bus to Invesco, where I hit the people-watching jackpot.

 

I saw proud, elderly black women and men who dressed for the historic speech like they were going to church, not to sit for seven hours in a football stadium.

 

I saw white sorority girls in denim miniskirts and prim pink Obama T-shirts.

 

I saw young Chicano guys with slicked-back hair and Obama shirts of their own design

 

I saw a young Asian guy in shorts, a ballcap and a oversized vintage suitcoat over a blue Obama shirt.

 

I saw an older black woman who used rhinestones to sew the word Obama into her high bouffant.

 

And I saw a young white family – a mom, a dad and two little children – all dressed in red, white and blue.

 

I know that Republicans like to slam so-called “identity politics” as narcissistic and divisive.

 

But I like living in a culturally rich state, and I want my children to be raised in a country where they see people of all races and religions living lives that intersect and overlap and intertwine.

 

So I wonder why the Republicans haven’t been able to attract more people of color to their party. Most of all, I wonder if they wonder why.

 

Maybe they think it doesn’t really matter, because they can win the election without the youth vote, and without the votes of people of color.

 

And what happens if they’re right?