Free protesters, judge orders

A judge ordered the immediate release of 470 protesters just hours before President Bush was to speak Thursday night at the Republican National Convention, then fined the city for refusing to comply.

State Supreme Court Justice John Cataldo fined the city $1,000 for every protester held past a 5 p.m. deadline that he had set for their release. It was unclear how many detainees were still in custody.

"These people have already been the victims of a process," Cataldo told the city's top lawyer. "I can no longer accept your statement that you are trying to comply."

The detainees had been in custody for anywhere from 36 to 66 hours. The decision was immediately hailed by attorneys for the demonstrators.

"They have to release them right now," said veteran civil rights attorney Norman Siegel. "The judge, to his credit, said 'enough.' "

At a later hearing, Cataldo determined the city failed to comply with his release order and imposed his sanctions. City Corporation Counsel Michael Cardozo tried in vain to convince the judge that the city was earnestly trying to comply with his wishes.

Top-notch speaker ... this time

Kentucky got an A-list breakfast speaker Thursday.

But it was only because Kentucky merged its breakfast with the delegation from Missouri, a swing state nearly as coddled here as Ohio.

New York City's former mayor, Rudolph Giuliani, told the delegates: "There's more Republicans in this room than in all of Manhattan."

Also at the breakfast: the District of Columbia delegation. When Gov. Ernie Fletcher welcomed them, they stood up and clapped, prompting this quip from Fletcher:

"Always good to get an ovation from the District of Columbia. Last time I flew in there I got an evacuation."

When Fletcher flew to Washington for President Reagan's funeral in June, a faulty tracking device on his plane led police to a fear terrorism, and they evacuated the Capitol.

Portman plays John Edwards

Rep. Rob Portman will once again play the Democratic vice presidential candidate in Dick Cheney's debate preparation.

Portman, a Republican from Terrace Park, assumed the role of Joe Lieberman in 2000 to help Cheney prepare for his debate. He'll be playing John Edwards in advance of the vice presidential debate, scheduled for Oct. 5 in Cleveland.

"I'm superstitious," Cheney told the Ohio delegation. "I wanted to make sure we had the same kind of preparation we did last time."

Miller wishes he could duel...this time

Democratic Sen. Zell Miller was tough on John Kerry, but things got even hotter when the conservative all but challenged an interviewer to a duel.

MSNBC-TV's Chris Matthews is known for an aggressive, rapid-fire interviewing style, and the two men interrupted each other several times.

"I wish we lived in the day where you could challenge a person to a duel," the 72-year-old Miller angrily told Matthews, 58.

Miller was at the convention site and Matthews was on a set several blocks away, so there was no chance of a physical confrontation.

Protesters: Brothers in arms

Among the protesters in New York City this week were two Cincinnati brothers, Corey and Coleman Kane of Clifton Heights, who have issues with the Bush-Cheney campaign.

"The biggest thing for me would be the war and basically the incessant bigotry against gays," said Corey, 23, who runs a Web hosting company. "A lot of people died who didn't have to. We were lied to about the entire thing."

Brother Corey, 21, a University of Cincinnati student, said the whole week was fun, and the protests "huge and peaceful."

Cheney's Buckeye blood

Vice President Dick Cheney told delegates his family has roots in Ohio.

His great-grandfather moved from New Hampshire to the Defiance area in the mid-1800s, joining an Ohio regiment during the Civil War, Cheney said. He owned a lumber mill there before moving to Nebraska.

Thanks for stepping down

"We appreciate him resigning and removing this controversy from our campaign."

- Strategist Karl Rove on Mike Allen, Hamilton County prosecutor and former Southwest Ohio Bush campaign chairman, who stepped down from his political post after admitting to an affair with one of his assistant prosecutors.

A Moore story the GOP likes

Before a roundtable with Ohio reporters, Bush chief strategist Karl Rove pretended to answer phones at the Republican convention headquarters: "Committee on arrangements, please hold. Committee on arrangements, please hold. No, Mr. Moore, you can't get credentials."

He was referring to filmmaker Michael Moore, who skewers Bush in Fahrenheit 9/11.

Bush on thin ice with fans

If every little constituency will matter this election year, President Bush may have lost the hockey vote Wednesday in Columbus.

Sen. John Kerry is a hockey nut, both an energetic player and a lifelong fan of the Boston Bruins. And Texan Bush? As he admitted when introducing Columbus Blue Jackets owner John McConnell, "I cannot skate."

Carl Weiser of the Enquirer Washington Bureau and Enquirer news services contributed.