Denver: Pre-Convention Sunday Edition

Jeff Alworth

I have located a nice little cafe here on the 16th Avenue Mall, a pedestrial thoroughfare lively with convention-goers, drummers, Denverites, and cops.  Lots and lots of cops (more on that later).  I still feel a bit out of the loop--nothing's actually happening yet, and we're all just wandering around--but thanks to your guidance from the previous post, I did the poking around I could.  Consider this an ethnographic account of the day.

• The delegates were thick at the airport (I sat next to one on my flight), and there is definitely a Hillary contingent here.  I saw a group from Corpus Christi who all had Hillary buttons on.  Uncharacteristically, I chatted them up.  They were all guarded (I was wearing an Obama tee), and when I asked how they were feeling about supporting Obama, the spokeswoman designee said cagily--"I'm a Hillary delegate."  I recalibrated: "Yes, but for the general, how are you feeling about Obama?"  Stony silence.  Another recalibration.  "Will you support Obama?"  To this she allowed, "After the convention, we'll see."  The awkward silence was broken when we started talking about where we were from.
• I went to the wrong place for my blogger credentials--to the main media line, which snaked long in the thin Denver air.  After a nice half-hour wait, I got bumped from the line, but not before hearing the woman behind me try to arrange dinner with "Cokie."  Roberts?  I didn't ask.  Later, a 20-something interny-looking young woman in a CNN tee and media credentials announced to another 20-something interny-looking young man that she had Brian Williams on the phone.  "Seriously?" He said.  "Absolutely," she replied.  Then he said--I kid you not--"Can I speak to him?"  I didn't hear the response--I was getting booted from the line.

• I did manage to secure tomorrow's credentials.  Bad news: there was only one, and I thought we had arranged for Kari to get one, too. The woman handing them out helpfully noted that we could trade back and forth.  Yeah, thanks for that.  Good news: the credential says "FLOOR," apparently the highest-level access in the building.  She called it "the golden ticket."  We'll see.
• Cops and protesters.  There is a very serious military-like police presence.  Anyone who has seen the Portland police in their all-black riot gear will recognize the set-up.  Some group arranged to lead a march, which went up and down 16th Avenue.  It wasn't clear what the goal was--people were just generally anti-Bush/GOP.  They didn't appear to have a particular goal, though a number had signs referencing Iraq. I got no sense that they were anti-Obama.  Then, at a particular point, the cops all converged on a side street, where something was going on. What was not clear was what exactly was happening--though it was the most well-documented non-fracas in history.  Video cams (pro and non-pro), still cams (pro and non-pro), cell phone cams (non-pro) were all whirring while everyone asked, "What's going on?!"  Eventually, and I'm really not making this up, a Captain Black got on the loudspeaker and told the crowd to disperse.  This provoked catcalls and jeers.  Then he gave a time limit after which people would be arrested.  "It's now 4:20," he began, and the catcalls turned to laughter and a huge cheer.  Dunno if the cops knew what was happening.
• I've been collecting propaganda from everyone who proffers it. So far: a crazy wandering fundamentalist Christian tract keyed to the convention (the back says cryptically "Will ALL Republicans go to HELL?," provocative indeed, but the question goes unanswered); one flyer from the revolutionary communist party; an announcement of a rally by the Backbone Campaign; and a no-to-drugs pamphlet.  So far, no clear movement appears to be gathering across the barricades.

That's it for today.  Much more when things actually get rolling tomorrow.

By Jeff Alworth Aug. 24, 2008