Politically Tinted Weekend

I've always liked politics and this past weekend I got a big dose. Colorado is a Swing State, and Obama and McCain are both vying for its 9 electoral votes. Thus, this past weekend I was able to see Hillary Clinton speak on Friday on the campus I work at. Then I was able to go to a rally on Saturday where Ben Harper played a few songs and his wife, actress Laura Dern, spoke.

Sunday was the highlight when Senator Obama spoke to over 100,000 people inbetween the capitol building and the City and County Building in Denver. I volunteered from 8 a.m. to just before noon when Senator Obama gave his speech, and was very close to the front of the masses. It's the third time I have seen him speak--first before the CO Caucus in January; then at Mile High Stadium in Denver during the DNC Convention, and now here.

It really is an exciting time in our country--but as the director of the Obama Campaign in Colorado reminded the 1,200 volunteers who showed up for a meeting Saturday night, we are "not normal" with our interest in politics.

Embracing my abnormality, I dropped off my ballot yesterday. I can't wait to see what next Tuesday brings--for me, I am hoping it does bring Change, the buzzword of the campaigns so far, and I excitiedly casted my vote for Senator Obama.

And wait, that's not all for Tuesday

We left the Watch Fest before watching, so Patti, Laura and I viewed Hillary's speech from the comfort of the apartment with some wine. I thought it was well-delivered and a great choice for an orange pants suit!

After our little watch party, I picked up Mbayja and we decided to check out some action downtown. We ended up at Theorie, which some of you Denverites will know as the former Denver Real World house. We ended up talking to a 25-year-old delegate from Minnesota who is an Iraq War Vet and was SUPER and I mean he was SUPER excited to be at the convention. Also had an interesting chat with a fellow from New Zealand who was in Denver on business and had never been to the states before, but was fascinated by the high level of interest in politics here; especially the protesters aspect, the large number of police, and the general hoopla. I was pleased to learn he found Americans overall more friendly than he anticipated, plus, he bought me a Manhattan.

Of course, Mbayja and I had to get our pix taken on the red carpet. Naturally.

Tuesday with the DNC in town

Tuesday night my friend Annie and I headed over to City Park to volunteer for the Denver Dems Watch Fest. Turns out, we mostly watched, too, as there wasn't much for us to do, except for watch the opening musicians. But as you can see, we managed to visit a huge, inflatable art exhibit in the park, and we saw Bobby Kennedy's son Max speak. We also got to where those impossible-to-miss florescent yellow t-shirts, but alas, they had to be returned.

Below, Annie with the inflatable art. There was no sign explaining its purpose.

Using all my strength, but it resists.
Max Kennedy, son of Bobby and Ethel Kennedy, gets the crowd riled up!
They finally got that fountain working in the middle of City Park.
It's even pretty all lit up with the inflatable art!

Some more pix from Day One of the DNC

Me, modeling at the Convention CenterSeriously, the Big Bear can't even get in the Pepsi Center. Pretty much how I feel.
Soooooo many cops downtown! See it, believe it.
Cops on big bikes, and a protestor.
Robo-cops (notice the guy taking the pic super close).

A small part of history

Yesterday I lent a good part of my day to volunteer at the Democratic National Convention here in Denver. I did not have the sexiest of assignments--I was part of the Greening Team, and my duties included standing next to trash, recycle, and compost receptacles and telling people where to place what. Problem was, my new buddy from Nashville, Mbayja and I were in a corner where no one else was. We were able to see parts of the African-American Caucus though, and see two protesters be escorted out.

After awhile, we started wandering looking for other fun things to do, when we got tricked into volunteering in the kitchen with Susan, another volunteer. This was pointless except we got to see all the desserts being made for the events, and one of the cooks made us french fries on the sly. Here we are wearing our hairnets and showing off our rubber gloves.

We ended up escaping after lunch to wander the convention and I was able to purchase 10 pieces of Obama flair (buttons, if you will) and meandered down the 16th street mall. The only celebrity I spotted was Willington Webb, Denver's former mayor. Below are pictures of me, trying to be excited at the beginning of the shift, and of my favorite Big Blue Bear as I left the Convention Center.

I returned home for a few hours, than made it back downtown where I encountered an overly talkative ABC news producer whom I could not shake for the remainder of the evening. I joined a few friends and saw the end of Michelle Obama's speech, but since I had been downtown mostly since 6 a.m., I headed home around 9:30. My friend Alice got in though to the Pepsi Center! I also have some fun photos of police in Riot Gear that I will post later.

It's a really exciting time for the city having the DNC here, and even more exciting is that I have credentials to get into Obama's speech on Thursday at Invesco!