and..... cut!

The DNC is over and the city has settled back into normalcy. We had a fantastic time just being in the center of it all. Paparazzi were everywhere and for a short time Denver was very starstruck. I have to admit I was even strolling the streets with my eyes peeled for someone famous. Annette Benning, John Turturro, and others were reported at a restaurant I frequent for happy hour. Hillary and friends were staying at the hotel next to my office. Spike Lee was hanging out at a local Mexican restaurant my friend's boyfriend works. My coworker was making a phone call in the lobby of our building and Sean Penn walked right by with no entourage and a single cigarette. Ohhh, it was all so cool!
I really enjoyed all the merchandise being sold along the streets. There were Barack action figures, a medley of pins, and shirts of all sorts. Drake and I couldn't help ourselves and bought the Obama, "That's my DJ" shirt.
The Civic Center was used exactly for its purpose. Activists took turns on the stage chanting their messages while others set up in the grass. Someone's slight attempt to recreate the Boston Tea party made me laugh as the tea didn't even color the entire fountain.
One night we went to the park next to our house for a Young Dems party. The chance to see JJ Abrams was our real reason for going as he was on the agenda. We didn't see him but stayed through to hear Joey Pants (from Sopranos) struggle to relate his diagnoses of chronic depression to the importance of health care (uhhh.. vote Demorcrat right?).
I've uploaded our DNC photos. I know there's tons of cop photos but as Drake pointed out to me, "people take pictures of what is out of the ordinary."

As a side note, I also uploaded some photos we took during our visit to Charlotte, NC to visit Drake's parents.

Chaos! - Democrats in Denver cont.

Throughout the day I heard sporadic reports from co-workers of protesters outside our building attempting to rouse-rabble, but other than some anarchists getting hauled away from the 16th Street Mall by police, the protests seemed scattered and less massive than most of us anticipated. It did seem that every colorful cause you can imagine had representation out on the streets, from anti-war and anti-China demonstrators, to population reduction pundits, to advocates of free flu vaccinations. One highlight (or lowlight, come to think of it) was the van that drove around downtown, displaying giant pictures of dead fetuses and the slogan, "Abortion is an Obama Nation". Kind of clever in a sick, sick way.

The relative mildness of the day was soon to be shattered however. As the buses seemed behind schedule that evening, we decided to take a cab from work (sharing it with a cool alternative energy stocks blogger who waited with us at the bus stop). On our way home we saw a huge procession of cops in riot gear hanging off of SUVs with their sirens on, flying West past City Park. When we arrived home, we found out there was a sizeable riot downtown, minutes after we left the city. Pepper spray and hoses were used; people were hospitalized; 100 people were arrested. This is definitely not a boring time to be a Denverite!

calm before the storm

Most of Monday was pretty calm downtown. As I looked down 27 floors from my office onto the main pedestrian mall the foot traffic looked pretty normal with a few people holding signs and handing stuff out. Seems most regular downtown workers decided not to commute in and were replaced with activists and media leaving the streets relatively bearable to navigate.

The big excitement yesterday was an un-permitted protest march around 7pm. Not five minutes after Drake and I caught a cab home (after 30 min. wait for bus) a huge protester-police uproar broke out just two blocks from where we were standing! I can't believe we missed it! Our cab patiently waited as a fleet of cops, armored cars, and riot gear-wearing police holding themselves on the outside of an SUV, roared passed us to the scene. Police used pepper spray and force to contain the rock-holding mob and about a third of the 300 protesters were arrested. Activist groups are screaming mistreatment and brutality of course. I'm all for the freedom of speech, but these are groups that have preemptively said they plan to get arrested and use violence. Some of their signs even say "Riot 4 Peace". So, I'm tending to lean to the side of the police. Without knowing the whole story, I think these groups are looking for a fight and are purposely causing chaos to gain media attention.

We should really focus on the real momentous events occurring.

Day One - Democrats in Denver

Julia and I took the bus to work early this morning to beat the chaos downtown. We were surprised to find that the bus was not crowded and the traffic seemed almost normal. As we passed the Brown Palace (where we heard the Clintons were staying), Julia commented on the lack of commotion, though we did see a guy standing in front of the building with a camera tripod, no doubt waiting for celebrity to emerge.

As I walked to my building, I felt half relieved and half disappointed - was I expecting a mob of anarchists and grizzled protesters chanting and blocking my way at 7:30 AM? As Julia noted those guys probably sleep in late.

I was soon reminded that not all was normal; before I could open the door to my office, I noticed a man in a black suit sitting at a newly erected desk in the lobby, watching me. He politely demanded to see my security pass before he would let me proceed.

I work just blocks away from the convention center, so this added security makes sense. Julia works in the tallest building in Denver, so I am sure the security there is just as well-planned; probably more so. I expect this to be an exciting week here in the heart of the Mile High city.

When in Denver, do as the Dems do.

There's no way to avoid it - the DNC has rolled in and Denver is hopping! Over the past month it's been exciting to watch downtown prep for the convention. Since Friday the energy has doubled around town. Even our neighborhood, which if four miles away, has had a surge of police and traffic. Tomorrow we'll go to work downtown, me in the tallest building in Denver and Drake a couple blocks away, and will finally experience what has been whispered through the streets these last couple weeks. Major roads are shut down, protester parades will run all day, police will be on every corner, visitors fill every square foot, and the sleeping dragon barricades which are apt to cause the most disruption to traffic, are all part of the agenda. As everyone else here, I wish mostly for safety this week (and some kickass Democratic history!)

veep veep

I have to say that I've been really at a loss on who should be Barack's VP running mate. Drake likes the idea of Kathleen Sebelius, Democratic governor of the very red Kansas, as she's been extremely successful in unifying the parties. Though, I'm more keen on a mate who has a stronger public presence. So much so that I was even entertaining the idea of Al Gore a couple weeks ago. C'mon, even republicans like Al. But after reading an editorial in today's Denver post, I think I've solidified my choice - Bill Richardson.

McCain and Obama will fight for the Independent votes in Colorado, New Mexico and Nevada. With Richardson, Obama can strengthen his victory in the West. When running for president, Richardson's platform was based on experience; real, well-respected experience. His strong record in foreign relations, energy, balancing budgets, economic vitality, and overall forward-looking progress is an ideal match for Obama.

So there I go. With only a few weeks left until the convention, I'm putting my support behind Richardson. Now I just hope his beard doesn't elicit the same silly reaction as Gore's did in 2001. Although, readers of the daily kos seem to like his beard as do I.

the time is now

This weekend I was asked a question I had never thought about before. Someone said to me, "So, when did you get into Obama?" I didn't know. After a few hems and haws and crinkling of the face, I narrowed it down to a period of time. It must have started after the 2004 DNC where Barack was the keynote speaker. At this point in my life I was just graduating college where I spent those years immersed in media and had a fervent hunger for politics. I remember snippets and references to the speech all over the news and from that moment on it became a snowball of media coverage until today. I can't remember not being 'into' Obama, because the more I learned about him the more my admiration for him grew; so it was only natural to support the idea of him running for president when it was first introduced.

At the time of the 2004 speech, I don't think anyone, including Barack, thought he would be the top presidential (not just democratic) candidate for 2008. But the people are speaking louder than ever. This is the time. This this his time. This is OUR time. It must be now. I truly believe if we let this great leader pass us by at this very moment in history, that it will be too late for our nation to recover and rebuild to the respected posture we once modeled.

Obama is what the world needs now.