On the eve of John McCain’s speech, the state of Minnesota is fired up. Protestors have lined up on a bridge to protest the  nomination of John McCain and they are creating chaos for law enforcement. Yes, some are peaceful but others are being as disruptive as possible.

According to CNN:

As of 9 a.m. CT Thursday, 422 people had been arrested since the convention began, according to law enforcement’s Joint Information Center. Only 40 were still in custody earlier in the day.

St. Paul police had arrested 145 individuals on felony charges, 107 on misdemeanors, and 53 on gross misdemeanors, said Deputy Tracy Martin of the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Department. She did not know the charges against 15 others.

The lines have divided in the country between Democrats and Republicans. After Sarah Palin’s speech last night, she attracted over 37 million viewers, it has the Democrats standing firm. Obama is breaking fund raising records and has gained ten points overnight in the Iowa polls.

Has the Republicans strategy backfired? It seems so. Barack Obama honed in on that point in Denver too, “If you don’t have any fresh ideas, then you use stale tactics to scare the voters. If you don’t have a record to run on, then you paint your opponent as someone people should run from. You make a big election about small things.”

Stay tuned for McCain’s speech tonight.