My travels this week involve nothing more than a daily commute via RTD bus to Denver, where I am volunteering at the Democratic National Convention. Short as my trips are, they are as thrilling as any I've every taken, because they are to an event that will never again occur so close to my home in my lifetime. The last time Denver hosted a convention was exactly a century ago, when the city was was trying to shake its cowtown image.
In 1908, Oklahoma had become a state just the previous November, and Arizona, New Mexico, Alaska and Hawaii were still be admitted to the Union. Delegates arrived at Denver's beautiful Union Station by train. Some stayed right near the station at the Oxford Hotel (1891), the Barth Hotel (1882) or now-gone hotels. Other delegates took a trolley ride to the the Brown Palace Hotel (1892), more than a mile to the east. The Oxford is a charming boutique hotel, the Barth houses low-income senior citizens, and the Brown remains a historic jewel. Word on the street is that former President Bill Clinton, wanted-to-be President Hillary Clinton and won't-be President John Kerry are staying there this time around.
The 1908 convention itself took place is the Denver Arena Auditorium, now remade into a part of the Denver Performing Arts Complex. The 2008 convention is taking place at the Pepsi Center (above right), where the NHL Avalanche and NBA Nuggets usually play. State caucuses and other activities take place at the huge Denver Convention Center. Two blocks from the convention center, the 16th Street Mall is festooned with banners. Vendors are selling Obama buttons, pennants, T-shirts, flags and other souvenirs. Yellow-shirted local hosts (above left) answer visitors' questions. Manyh downtown streets are blocked and more will be, in effect expanding the pedestrian zone. Still, despite the ponderous presence of in-your-face security, the general ambiance is upbeat and positive -- and there's a electricity in the air and a buzz everywhere.
I don't know what security was like in 1908, but it was probably fairly tight for the day, since President William McKinley had been assassinated just seven years earlier. In 2008, I've seen uniforms from the Denver Police, county sheriff, state police, various Denver suburban police departments, Colorado Springs police, private security firms and the Transportation Security Agency. Officers on foot and horseback keep an eye on the legions of earnest protesters of all stripes, from Pro-Life to End the War Now crusaders, in case anything gets out of hand, perhaps clashing with each other. Officers on bicycles cruise the 16th Street Mall. Helicopters fly overhead. SWAT teams drive around the city ready to quell any trouble that may arise. Squad cars are parked all over the place. There's a K9 unit standing by.
Security people are posted at every entrance to every place, and within the agggressively fenced-off convention complex itself, your badge better be the correct side out. If it has flipped over backwards, someone in a uniform will ask you to turn it over so they can see the front with its distinctive hologram. The place is crawling with Secret Service Agents, some wearing serious dark suits and facial expressions to match, and others clad shirts that prominently say "Secret Service," which doesn't seem secret at all. The TSA has been enlisted to run the screening processes to get into the convention itself, just as they do at airports.
The Pepsi Center has been transformed, both backstage and in the arena (below left). The centerpiece is a soaring podium backed by a "gigantimus" video screen (below right). I'm a volunteer on the "press team. I have completed two afternoons of orientation, training and volunteer briefings, which is why I've seen the Denver scene, so to speak. The real work starts tomorrow.
The buzz is building daily, and by tomorrow, it will be full-throttle excitement and adrenalin for the tends of thousands of delegates, media, DNC staff and volunteers, Republican war room warriors ready to spin the slightest Democratic verval misstep, and squadrons protesters (who I hope stay cool) and security forces (which I hope will have proved to be unnecessary).
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