(Newser)
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A few hundred demonstrators near the GOP convention are promising to stay put regardless of what comes first—a hurricane or Republicans. The hodgepodge of liberal groups, ranging from Occupy to Code Pink to Dogs Against Romney, are protesting in Tampa despite wet skies and warnings of hurricane-force winds, the AP reports. "We're here, baby, rain or shine," says a member of the local Occupy movement. "The weather is going to do what it is going to do."
But police disagree: If the storm becomes dangerous, says Tampa's police chief, "we will order people into shelters." Meanwhile, activists have laid out giant ice blocks with the words "middle class" melting in the heat, to signify the vanishing middle class. About 30 others are protesting with dogs, a reference to Romney having strapped his dog to the roof of his car; "Don't roof rack me, bro," reads one sign. Perhaps the most cutting sign belongs to a protester from Code Pink, a group dedicated to women's issues: "Vagina," it reads. "If you can't say it, don't legislate it."
