STAFF EDITORIAL: Conventional wisdom

After more than year of planning and preparing, months of cleaning and construction, it's finally here: the Republican National Convention.

And things seem to be going well.

The city was equipped to handle the influx of people. Roads, public transit, hotels, restaurants, all seem to have been ready.

Convention goers are visiting -- and spending money inÿ-- the suburbs as well as the city. Delegates seem to be enjoying themselves, shopping, eating, touring, enjoying Philadelphia's attractions and taking away a positive image of a city generally on the upswing. Visitors were welcomed with free museum visits and provided with guides to city from newspapers. Delegates have praised the city, the First Union Center, their hotels, restaurants. They've even praised SEPTA's service.

City residents have welcomed the delegates, journalists, and others in town for the convention. The inconvenience caused by convention events seems to be relatively minimal.

The press has been overwhelmingly positive. While the convention itself has provided little news, it has successfully brought Philadelphia into the national spotlight.

The convention has also brought other successful events to the city. The family-oriented PoliticalFest at the Convention Center provides an excellent, educational experience. The Shadow Convention at the Annenberg Center has proven to be an academic but entertaining alternative to those unsatisfied with party politics.

The groups that have chosen to demonstrate in the city have, for the most part, handled themselves well, showing their enthusiasm for their causes and respecting the rights of the public.

The police have defied dire predictions, showing themselves quite prepared and quite capable of dealing with protesters respectfully.

Even when certain demonstrators decided to regress into rioters on Tuesday, tipping police cars, vandalizing buildings, causing gridlock, throwing newspaper boxes in the streets and attacking officers, police conducted themselves with restraint, calmly confronting protesters and defusing the situation gracefully.

Police Commissioner John Timoney deserves recognition not only for preparing police to deal diplomatically with protests, but also for going out himself to support his officers, even being injured while subduing rioters on Tuesday.

If the conclusion of the convention today goes as well as the past three days have gone, the event will have been quite a success for Philadelphia.

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