DNC Day 4 - We get inside!
12:00 AM Aug 28, 2008
Today was a red letter day! Nate Vanderschaaf, PIA member and Obama delegate from Colorado, scored me a ticket to get inside the convention hall, so right this minute, I'm sitting in a private suite drinking a cold beer, OK, I'm on my second one, and getting a start on today's blog. There is no wi-fi in the building, so you won't get this till I get home later.
(Later)
We got a good start on the day by going to Coors Field, the local baseball stadium where Bobby Kennedy Jr. was to speak again.
I love my job:~)
We didn't need to see Kennedy again, but we really wanted to interview him. Beautiful place, but it was way too sunny where he was speaking, so I found a good seat in the shade where there were electric plugs for charging cameras, phones and laptops and some great folks to talk to.
The woman on the right, maybe in her seventies, lived across the street from Orville Wright! She was a little girl at the time, but knew him and his family well. Her friend knew Bobby Kennedy when he was a small child. The people we are meeting here are amazing. Everyone has a great story.
Colette sold a copy of the "Who Killed the Electric Car?" to one couple and we ended up talking for 20 minutes. I gave them my card and said to invite all their neighbors over when they watch it and call me, no matter what time it is, with any questions. I really think they will.
We then drove over to a symposium on world poverty that featured several great speakers including Madeline Albright, Tim Wirth and actor, Ben Afleck. While this was not directly related to EVs and renewable energy, it nonetheless was quite moving. We have SO much work to do to fix the problems of this world. The disparity between the billion or so wealthy people on this planet and the 5 billion poor is a crying shame.
After that sobering session, we had to move fast. The logistics of getting to the hotel where I was to pick up the ticket, and getting back to the Pepsi Center were formidable. Colette had scored another ticket from a friend and would meet me there, but that left Cayenne relegated to going back to our guest house and working on on a school paper. As she was dropping me off at the hotel to get my ticket, Colette called with the good news, she had scored yet another ticket to get in. So, now all three of us were going to see Bill Clinton and Joe Biden speak.
We'd heard that security was tough and that we needed to allow plenty of time to get in, so we all converged by foot at the sole entry to the venue. Check out the security and you'll know how serious they are about protecting this convention - and our candidate.
And this right behind the first bunch....
And this is just outside the Pepsi Center...
Once in, we found out that our tickets were for standing room only with pretty much no view of the stage, and the sound was such that we couldn't understand anything. Not good. But then, Nate Vanderschaaf again comes to our rescue and gets us in the Colorado delegation's suite. We're behind the stage, so we can't see it directly, but we're only about 30 meters behind the speakers and we can hear the roar of the crowd fine.
Here I am writing away. Meghan, the bartender, shot this pic.
The Clinton speech was pretty damn good. I had some problems with how he handled the campaign, so hearing him come on board with such conviction made it all better. All the speakers were terrific, John Kerry included, but the highlight was Joe Biden. He reminded me of why I've always liked him. He's a genuinely good person who has suffered serious personal injury, yet he's brought such consistently good legislation to the Senate floor since he was only 30! People talked a lot when the others were speaking, but when Biden spoke, everyone listened. His speech rocked the house to its rafters. We all felt so good about having such a person share the ticket with Obama.
Then, before the ovation began to taper, we were all surprised when Obama stepped onto the stage. I had to get a reaction shot of the group since the house was rockin'!
Owen Emry (on the right) showed up about half way through. He'd gotten a pass from Nate as well.
It took a while for everyone to empty the stadium. We stood outside and just let the throng flow around us, listening to the clips of conversation and drinking in the positive feeling from thousands of activists, all of us knowing that we really do have a team that will finally end this nightmare called the Bush administration.
Tomorrow, we go to Invesco Field where we'll pray to the ticket gods again in hopes of getting in to see Barack Obama accept his party's nomination. With Al Gore speaking, it should make for another fabulous day.
Paul