The DNC part one

I wasn’t able to complete the delegate track in order to get into the convention. I wasn’t able to work my extremely limited political connections in order to get into the convention. I wasn’t able to use my title as a Precinct Committee Person to get into the convention. I wasn’t even able to sign up fast enough to get into Mile High Stadium, to witness Obama’s speech during the last day of the convention.

I was able to take part in the overall experience of what was taking place in my little burg of Denver, Colorado.

My friend Kristin and I went to the Denver Art Museum, on Sunday, August 24th, in order to catch an exhibit before it left town. After we were done, Kristin said that she was getting hungry and thirsty. I suggested that we wander over to Civic Center Park to see if some of the many merchants had anything to eat. Sadly, the make shift market did not. I actually knew that in advance, but I wanted to get her on the move before she realized what I was up to. I thought she might want to head home rather than brave the unknown of what downtown Denver had to offer, during the DNC.

My plan: To walk the length of downtown, see what was going on, and arrive at Zengo, a restaurant I like a lot, (http://www.modernmexican.com/zengodenver/index.htm) in order to enjoy the energy rich nourishment we would so desperately need (not to mention the cucumber mojitos!).

By the time we made it to the downtown side of Civic Center Park, Kristin noticed a large group of people in the street, and asked me, “Are those protestors?” I responded with, “I don’t know, let’s go see.” From that point, we engaged in a true journey. We made our way throughout the heart of downtown Denver.

We saw protestors. We missed a notable celebrity (Tom Brokaw (with a full TV crew)) on the same street as we were. Mr. Brokaw said, “I’ve been to Denver many times, and this is a great city. It’s clear that Denver has dressed itself up for the DNC, and it has never looked better.”

We also saw the largest police presence in Denver that I can remember.

The police were out in force, from all regions of the eastern slope. We saw police on foot, on bicycles, on horseback, on motorcycles, and even more.

What I thought was amazing was how the people on the street reacted to them. All along our trek, we heard people saying to the police officers,

“You guys are doing a great job”

“Thanks for all that you do”

“You all rock”

“Thanks for everything”

During the DNC, most people were extremely appreciative of the job the police were doing. You must know, these men and women are wearing black, or dark navy blue, polyester uniforms, many of them also donning full riot gear (including helmets), and it was 90 degrees or hotter. If you think about the rowdy mood of the protestors, that they were taunting the police and they were there illegally, the nearly over whelming numbers of non-protesting people on the streets, and the intense heat, the police showed incredible restraint. They didn’t have to. They could have attempted to arrest all of them, which was within their legal right to do. Instead, the police simply stood back, and allowed them to move along their path, while encouraging them to keep up the pace.

The protestors on Sunday basically sucked at getting their message across. There were a few hundred of them, but they were not unified. Some of them had scarves over the lower part of their faces, so you couldn’t really hear what they were trying to say. Some had embroidered on their shirts, “Impeach Bush.” Okay, that’s great, where do I sign up? Others held various signs that said, “No war in Iraq,” and “No War in Iran,” and even a sign that read, “World Peace” I thought, “So you’re running for Miss USA.” Finally, there were those of the group who were chanting, “Take back our streets!” From what I have learned, this was because they decided not to get a permit for their demonstration, but rather chose to purport that they had the legal right to march in the streets of my fare city, while stopping traffic, without obtaining the legal right to do so.

Eventually, we arrived at the Denver Millennium Bridge,

where we saw the MSNBC broadcast platform.

I was so excited and was hoping to see my boy, Keith Olbermann. I got the next best thing. I was able to see Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, the hosts of “Morning Joe”, which I watch nearly every weekday morning.

So that was the bulk of Sunday afternoon. I then decided to view the goings-on of downtown Denver on Monday evening. A friend had called (a staunch democrat no less) and asked if I wanted to go downtown, in order to see what was going on. I asked him if he was comfortable in entrenching himself in the middle of a huge group of people that were in town for, “The coming of the messiah.” My friend was raised in a staunch republican family, and even he even he wanted to be a part of history in the making, even if in a small way. So we made our way downtown, via light rail.

We sat in a small but chic eatery, while discussing many political issues. There was a great deal of back and forth, and resulted in a great conversation. After 10 pm, the DNC was retired for the evening, and our bar was shortly filled up with convention goers. It seemed like all of them were talking about Hilary’s speech and how great it was. I hadn’t seen it yet, but from what I heard, it was the best speech of her political career.

Eventually, the din of the crowd grew to such a level, that my friend and I couldn’t even hear each other speak. We then decided to venture out into Denvers’ LoDo. Any establishment worth entering was wall to wall convention goers. On one hand, it was a little irritating, but on the other, it was great to see downtown Denver enjoying the boost in business that the DNC people said would result during the convention. My friend and I finally found a drinking establishment, on the high end side, that had room and provided the ability to hear one another. The high end status was okay, because it allowed both of us to actually sit down, so the price was worth it.

I was now looking forward to the following nights’ events. I was set to attend a private DNC party at the Ritz Carlton, in downtown Denver. As I was not able gain access to the actual convention, but I figured this was as close as I would get. I couldn’t wait!