Vanguard Coverage of the DNC: Day Three in Denver

by DON GIBSON

Today was a slower day. One thing is becoming very apparent though, a rush to see Obama’s speech. Right now I am at University of Denver at the College Democrats of America convention. This is where the lead college activist through out the nation for holding trainings and elections. Too bad the elections are happening at 8am while the reception for CDA starts at 11pm. There will be a lot of college students not coming to elections because of the late night party.

All of the activists who were not able to be elected to be a delegate need some kind of connection to get into Invesco Field. The best way is to volunteer. These people will be everywhere, on the field, in the nosebleed seats, and in the parking lot. A new rumor is that roads one mile around the stadium will be shut down when Obama is giving his speech. Delegates and volunteers will be bused in from downtown’s hotels while the light rail’s stadium connection will be out of service. I wish I had the $1,000,000 to spend on the box seats and then being able to hang out with Obama and Biden after the big speech. That high donor area is the only part where the regular volunteers would not be allowed to go explore.

The stadium should be packed. Originally there would have been enough tickets that family members and all of the activists that came to town could see Obama. This is no longer promised because people from all over the nation are now calling in all the favors to get a ticket. Residents in Colorado are fortunate by comparison where many of them simply have to offer to prove they are registered to vote or register at a local campaign office.

Police protection is out in force. There could be literally a dozen on a corner at anytime downtown. Half of the police officers around the Denver Convention Center are decked out in riot gear. I have yet to see a single protester these few days. This may have been the safest event I have ever been to. They even have more bike cops than Davis. Road blocks haven’t popped up yet but I would not be surprised to see them soon. The concert blocks protecting the buildings are already up and ready.

Even through I have yet to see protesters, I have been handed literature from one random group calling to ban all drugs. The price was professionally done but lied and used scare tactics about the softer drugs of alcohol and marijuana.

I was able to put some of my thoughts to Obama’s choice as Biden now that I can digest it. He is a fighter that can put the hurt on McCain. It is unfortunate that Biden’s presidential run I could only remember two things, he talks about Iraq and he made a good joke about Rudy Giuliani. Biden would have been a great candidate in 2004 primaries but in 2008 he was going against the cream of the democratic crop leaving him behind in the minds of the people. Biden is an incredibility smart man who is a leader in the Senate and first elected in 1972. Now he is a member of the US Senate Committee on the Judiciary and the chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations. The two biggest things lacking in the Bush administration, intelligent foreign policy and respect for the Judiciary branch is what Biden knows.

I am already looking forward to a Biden vice president. I hope Republican friends of mine can even admit that he is better than Cheney.