Warning to Rochester-bound DFLers: Don’t drink the water!

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Something seems rotten in the city of Rochester. Some GOPers left pretty queasy from their get-together at the Mayo Civic Center in Rochester, and it wasn’t just because the leadership awkwardly tried to seal off the Ron Paul faction from all influence over the party. Something else turned stomachs, and over here at PIM we’re concerned that it wasn’t just bombastic rhetoric and gridlock.

The water at the Convention Center does not taste right, and the Center posted big signs demanding that attendees could not bring in outside food. The staff was quite polite, but the concession stand at the corner of the vendor’s auditorium offered some decidedly questionable burgers and sandwiches. (The coffee is comically expensive, as well.) By the second day of the GOP convention, some on the PIM team were feeling pretty whipped, and honestly it felt a lot like food poisoning. We have heard of at least one attendee who has been sick for a couple days.

There’s a long history of convention centers catching disease in one way or another. Legionnaire’s Disease was first identified in a major outbreak at a Philadelphia American Legion conference in 1976. While perhaps this was a result of burgers left on a lukewarm serving tray all day, we’re advising gastronomical caution for the Democratic Party this year.