barack does denver

When I first found out I'd be in Denver for the DNC I called the Omaha "Office for Change" and asked if there were any community credentials available. I was told that they were incredibly difficult to obtain tickets if you were an active volunteer in the campaign and pretty much impossible otherwise.

But I did make it to Invesco Field on the day of the event. As someone who loves politics and loves history, it obviously would have been a dream to be inside the stadium. That said, the only place half as awesome to be would be outside protesting, standing up for my party and what I believe.


It was really a unique event. Most noticeable was the fact that the City of Denver felt dead. Denver felt like a Sunday morning, when in reality it was the city's shining moment. The area around the stadium was alive and vibrant as possible.

Getting to the convention was quite difficult. On Monday through Wednesday during the day, the area and the convention center was closed down. On Monday and Tuesday night a larger area and parts of Speer Boulevard (the main street- analogous to Dodge in Omaha) were blocked off. For Wednesday night’s “surprise Obama appearance” a much larger swath of downtown was closed as well as all of Speer. Thursday after about noon the entirety of downtown was shut down. The city of Denver literally told its residents to stay away from downtown, and most businesses not associated with tourism let out early.


Walking up to Invesco for Obama's speech was akin to walking up to any stadium before a major sporting event. There were numerous vendors selling Obama paraphernalia, although there were Obama vendors on virtually every corner around town selling "Change" and "Hope" themed garb. A major benefit to these entrepreneurs is the fact that Obama or Democrat logos are part of the public realm and anyone with a printing press can shoot off a thousand "Progress" shirts- If you tried to do the same with any sports team or university, said team would sue them for copyright infringement. My personal favorite shirt was the Che Obama shirt. The guy wore it with pride, although I believe it hurt his cause more than it helped. Ironically, the shirt advocating an anti-capitalist fighter probably made some capitalist a pretty penny.


Outside of an entrance to the stadium dozens of individuals stood with varying signs hoping to purchase tickets to the event. Many tried different pleading techniques- one sign read "COLLEGE STUDENTS DROVE FROM TENNESSEE TO SEE OUR HERO" In the time I was there, I didn't see a single person give up their seats. There were also a fair number of protesters for various causes. The ones below were from some sort of women's group.


The police presence was deceiving. When we walked up to the entrance we saw nothing but two young volunteers asking to see credentials. Beyond them is where the big guns were. Literally. Heavily armed cops stood and lead searches of bags, put people through metal detecters, and patted down each and every individual.


The police also paid special attention to us. One of the areas we protested in was in the shadow of I-25. Within moments, a number of cops flooded over to watch us.


Something I didn't get a picture of was how people got to Invesco. Most of the state delegations and media were transported to and from the center by buses, as they are at the RNC. But having Obama's speech at the football stadium meant at least 30,000 people not associated with the DNC were there. With arriving by car a virtual impossibility, people had to get resourceful.

While the stadium was flanked with portable barriers, the sections of barriers near the gates were loaded with bicycles. Every inch for at least 100 yards had bikes stacked upon each other. In addition to these bikes, bike taxis were making a killing. They cost 2 dollars a block, so it was actually more expensive than a real taxi. Cabs were also popular- this worked against me as I almost could not find a ride back to my hotel, every cab in Colorado was busy downtown.

In retrospect, we showed up at the Obama speech late. We planned on arriving about half an hour before the event started. But due to a delay at dinner, a long walk to Invesco Field, and gates opening earlier, we arrived at a time too late to do much damage.

We did gain a lot of press coverage, primarily in our afternoon protest session. Either way, we gained a lot of earned media and had a great time doing so. Denver was a success- and an amazing opportunity to boot.