But the situation here doesn't feel quite as combustible as the one in Cleveland. For starters, you can't walk around with a loaded assault rifle, something certain people did in Cleveland under the state's open carry law.

Monday morning’s biggest rally, at City Hall, featured several hundred “Bernie or Bust” partisans mingling with activists pushing for the decriminalization of marijuana. Some of the latter carried a giant, fake joint, or blunt, or fattie, of marijuana, with the words "Deschedule Cannabis Now" written on the sides.

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The crowd swelled on a sweltering day. People were still buzzing about the leaked Democratic National Committee emails and the resignation of Debbie Wasserman Schultz as DNC chairwoman. "One down, one to go!” was one popular chant — though few here realistically think Hillary Clinton will go the way of Wasserman Schultz. Another chant: "Hell no, DNC, we won't vote for Hillary!”

"We're here so Bernie's ideas continue," said Justin Goldman, a 23-year-old college student from Florida.

"It's not over ‘til the superdelegates have voted" said Cheryl Miller from Austin.

"We believe the primary was rigged against him — the WikiLeaks emails prove that," said Rachel Kessler of Bristol, Pa.

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Tracy Graunstadt, who drove from Michigan for the protest, said she wants to see the end of the two-party system. "I want people to see that we're not going to give up on the revolution. We're not going to give up on Bernie," she said. "We're not blind to the corruption of the DNC."

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Philadelphia police officials say they’ve changed strategies since 2000, when the Republicans held their convention here and police made numerous arrests. Police will not use tear gas and have decriminalized certain protest-related nuisance crimes, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer, which quoted the mayor saying the city’s goal is to make no arrests at all.

The biggest looming problem may be the heat; there’s an Excessive Heat Watch for the city.

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City leaders have put out the message that locals shouldn’t be afraid to come into the city center. Philadelphia is a much bigger city than Cleveland and can more easily absorb the convention crowds. There is a large security operation here, but there are proportionally fewer police. There are barricades and blockages around the Wells Fargo Arena, south of downtown, but it's fairly easy to drive around the city.

“So far so good, other than the heat,” Mayor Jim Kenney told The Post shortly after midday Monday.

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“My message to Philadelphians and people in the region is come and experience this. This is history in the making…There’s very little restriction on where you can walk or drive. People should come down and enjoy it.”

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Last week, Cleveland’s downtown area felt only semi-open, with many stores closed for the week and locals for the most part steering clear of the place after all the warnings about protests. Many streets were closed. It was almost impossible to drive downtown. Protesters did show up, and there were some marches of decent scale, but for most of the week the only people causing noise were fringe characters and people who might have found a bigger audience with a traveling circus. During the height of the Republican National Convention you could get a prime booth at the Cleveland Chop House or a table with elbow room in the aptly named Johnny’s Little Bar.

But Philadelphia has tried hard to avoid its own past mistakes with big events, when many people shied away from the heart of the city and restaurants reported disappointing levels of business.

Lateshia Beachum, Kayla Epstein and Louisa Loveluck contributed to this report.

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