Politics & Government

My Uneventful Hunt for Mitt Romney

I helped out in Shorewood last night, but saw no sign of the Republican presidential hopeful.

Other than the squad cars with lights flashing and the Secret Service agents, it was a pretty normal night in Shorewood, MN.

Sure, presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney was in town for a fundraiser at the home of Marty Davis. But unlike earlier in the evening—when , the Lafayette Club—things were fairly quiet in this neck of the woods.

I was there, helping James Warden, editor of Hopkins Patch, cover this for the west metro Patch sites. Over the course of a few hours, James and I spoke more to each other than to residents—because there really weren't any to be seen.

Find out what's happening in St. Louis Parkwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

We spoke to one group when we arrived in the area around 7 p.m., but they were simply checking things out before heading inside to prepare supper. Another woman biking by stopped to chat quickly, but she didn't even know Romney was in town.

A few kids on bikes were politely told by a police officer to take another route, which they did. And a friendly valet chatted to us about all the cool cars she was getting to drive, if only briefly.

Find out what's happening in St. Louis Parkwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

So from our vantage point—which was outside the "restricted zone," an area of a few hundred feet from the main gate, marked by orange cones—it was about as calm a night as possible (until a storm rolled in).

And Mitt's entrance? There really wasn't one, from where we stood. Toward the end of our evening, we saw a long motorcade pull up, presumably with Romney in tow. But the cars simply pulled through the gate and out of site, blocked by tall shrubs that surrounded the Davis residence.

So on this night, the hunt for the presidential hopeful was in vain.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here