SHOWTIME AT THE DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION

[Jenna Bluehut]

SHOWTIME AT THE DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION




Democratic Convention Kicks Off Monday Night In Denver... Opening Gavel At 5pm ET... Michelle Obama Headlines Opening Night... Video Address From Jimmy Carter... Nancy Pelosi, Claire McCaskill, Amy Klobuchar And Jesse Jackson, Jr Also Slated To Speak... Tribute To Ted Kennedy Planned... Kennedy May Make Surprise Appearance...

[Jenna Bluehut]

City abuzz with DNC delegates, protesters, celebs — and lots of police
By Lisa Ryckman, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)
Originally published 08:48 p.m., August 24, 2008
Updated 12:33 a.m., August 24, 2008

The Democrats really get this party started Monday, and Denver has rolled out the red, white and blue carpet for them.

Michelle Obama, Monday night's headline speaker on the opening day of the Democratic National Convention, arrived today with daughters Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7, and her mother, Marian Robinson, to hugs from Gov. Bill Ritter and his wife, Jeannie. Obama's husband, presumptive nominee Barack Obama, delivers his acceptance speech at Invesco Field on Thursday, the convention's final day.

Today was filled with protesters, police, parties, downtown crowds and uplifting messages.

Several noisy but peaceful marches included a steady stream of protesters — with numbers in the hundreds — and a sea of cops. Police came on foot, on horseback, on motorcycles, on bicycles and in unmarked vans, some officers decked out in full SWAT regalia and toting semi-automatic weapons. There were so many, in fact, that there were people watching the cops who were watching people.

"Of course, we can't watch all of them," said Maxine Lankford, who wore a fluorescent green vest with "Cop Watch" on the back and a video camera over her shoulder, ready to tape at a moment's notice.

There were tense moments as police moved in to clear gridlock caused by a march called "Funk the War," which briefly blocked the mall shuttle and Colfax Avenue near the Civic Center. But the only vestige of the anti-Vietnam War protests of the 1968 convention in Chicago was activist Tom Hayden, who monitored the action as he strolled along the mall in a fedora.

Cindy Sheehan, whose 24-year-old son was killed while serving in Iraq, got rock-star treatment from about 200 admirers, who swarmed her for autographs after a brief speech at the state Capitol.

Sheehan helped propel the anti-war movement by camping outside President Bush's Texas ranch in 2005.

On Sunday, she urged supporters to stand up for their right to be heard and challenged House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to a debate.

The state Capitol was the scene of a scuffle between a Fox News reporter and Ward Churchill, the former University of Colorado professor who caused an uproar when he called victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks "little Eichmanns." Security officers intervened after reporter Griff Jenkins allegedly put his hands on Churchill.

Speaker Pelosi, another of Monday's featured convention speakers, was briefly evacuated from her hotel Sunday when a Wyoming man without a concealed weapons permit tried to check in with two hunting rifles and two pistols. He faces a charge of unlawful carrying of a weapon.

Earlier, Pelosi praised Obama's decision to tap Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., as his running mate. Biden addresses the convention on Wednesday night.

Caroline Kennedy plans to lead the tribute to her uncle, Sen. Edward Kennedy, on Monday night.

An eight-minute video directed by Ken Burns and Mark Herzog will recount Kennedy's contributions over 46 years of political service and include footage of Kennedy talking about why he supports Sen. Barack Obama. Kennedy was diagnosed with a brain tumor earlier this year and most likely will not be attending the DNC.

Celebrities who began making the rounds at exclusive parties included director Spike Lee, who was swarmed by media when he showed up at a reception for black state lawmakers at trendy East Colfax Mexican restaurant Mezcal. He showed his liberal stripes when he refused to answer a question from a Fox News reporter with an abrupt, "I don't do Fox News," and immediately disappeared into the restaurant, which was closed to the media. Several other celebs joined Lee for the event, including Alfre Woodard and Matthew Modine.

Abortion took center stage at the DNC's opening event, an interfaith gathering that nearly filled the Convention Center's Wells Fargo Theater. It was disrupted early on by three anti-abortion protesters, including the founder of the group Operation: Rescue, who called Obama a "baby killer."

That brought boos from the crowd, which chanted "O-BA-MA" in response.

Bishop Charles E. Blake, who presides at the Church of God in Christ, called on Obama to follow through on a promise to reduce the number of abortions. "Something within us must be calling for a better way," he said to applause. "If we do not resist at this point, at what point will we resist?"

In a speech focusing on society's responsibility to its children, Blake first focused on the plight of the inner-city poor as a human rights responsibility before calling abortion a practice "that conflicts with our position and our responsibility ... to human rights itself."

Blake received a standing ovation after he praised the Democratic Party for its concern for the helpless and needy.

"Others loudly proclaim their advocacy for the unborn, but they refuse to recognize their responsibility and the responsibility of our nation to those who have been born," he said. "They are presently and historically silent, if not indifferent to the suffering of our inner cities."

At a church in Northeast Denver, the Rev. Al Sharpton Jr. told the 125-member congregation that Obama's candidacy represents the culmination of decades of civil rights struggles and the realization of part of Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" speech. King called for an America in which a person's merit was not determined by skin color.

"One thing Dr. King meant by that was that I would rather have a president be right rather than just be my color," Sharpton said. "I'd rather have a white president do right than a black one do wrong."

Obama's acceptance speech falls on the 45th anniversary of King's speech.

At least two tornadoes touched down southeast of Denver on Sunday, but the sun shone on the crowds downtown, which has been dressed to impress. Buildings bristled with flags and balloons, streamers fluttered from every lamppost, and windows played up the patriotic. The 16th Street Mall was bursting with banners, buttons and a blizzard of Obamabilia.

One table featured sparkly pins — "Obama-bling" — with various red, white and blue designs. "Michelle Obama wears one," said a sign, which urged people to buy it at Obama-bling.com.

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/aug/24/20080824_C2DC_DNC/

[Jenna Bluehut]

Photo by Tim Hussin

Esteban Perez, 15, of Denver, leads a chant as law enforcement officers in riot gear look on during a march and rally that paraded through downtown Denver

[Jenna Bluehut]

[Jenna Bluehut]

Photo by / The Rocky

Activist with CODEPINK are turned away and locked out of Union Station by law enforcement as they attempted to enter and parade through the station during s protest rally Sunday in downtown Denver.

[Jenna Bluehut]

Home › News › Politics
Springsteen, Bon Jovi to perform at Obama speech
By Mark Brown, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)
Originally published 08:16 p.m., August 24, 2008
Updated 08:16 p.m., August 24, 2008
INVESCO FIELD — The Jersey boys are coming, and we ain't talking about Frankie Valli. The Boss and Bon Jovi are ready to perform.

Multiple sources confirmed to the Rocky that Jon Bon Jovi will fly in to perform two acoustic songs before Sen. Barack Obama gives his acceptance speech at Invesco Field on Thursday night. After the speech, Bruce Springsteen will close out the night, presumably solo acoustic (E Street Band member Nils Lofgren told the Rocky last week that the band wouldn't be with Springsteen in Denver).

Springsteen's people have not returned multiple requests for comment.

[Jenna Bluehut]

McCain supporters' actions laughed off at Red Rocks
By Mark Brown, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)
Originally published 07:39 p.m., August 24, 2008
Updated 07:39 p.m., August 24, 2008



 Photo by Tim Hussin

Sheryl Crow plays during Green Sunday at Red Rocks in Morrison on Sunday, August 24, 2008. The concert featured Sheryl Crow, Sugarland, Dave Matthews and Tom Reynolds.



 Photo by Tim Hussin

Colorado senator Ken Salazar speaks during Green Sunday at Red Rocks in Morrison on Sunday, August 24, 2008. The concert featured Sheryl Crow, Sugarland, Dave Matthews and Tom Reynolds.
RED ROCKS AMPHITHEATRE — Mild harassment by John McCain supporters is laughed off as the concert gets under way with Sheryl Crow and Dave Matthews.

John McCain supporters went into Red Rocks before the parking lots were shut down for the DNC delegates' concert on Sunday afternoon, and as buses of delegates poured in they held up signs for their candidate. "Way to be an idiot!" one delegate shouted. Overhead a plane pulled a banner saying "Obama for rockstar — McCain for president!" Members of the crowd just laughed it off, said one. "The good thing is they're spending money on that instead of getting out the vote."

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/aug/24/red-rocks-green-concert-preshow/

[Kristina]

A N T I C I P A T I O N



Democratic National Convention: Anxious Energy Over Showing A Strong ObamaNY Times   |   August 25, 2008 08:35 AM




The Democratic National Convention opens today in Denver. The New York Times describes the atmosphere as filled with "nervous" energy over Obama's prospects against John McCain. Go to HuffPost's DNC big news page AND HuffPost's politics page for all the info out there on the Convention.




Democrats gathering here for their nominating convention are significantly more nervous about Senator Barack Obama's prospects this fall than they were a month ago, and are urging him to use the next four days to address weaknesses in his candidacy and lingering party divisions from the primary fight.



Mr. Obama's aides said they had learned from what they described as the mistake of the 2004 Democratic convention -- when aides to Senator John Kerry's campaign sought to forbid convention speakers from going after President Bush -- and would use their time to draw contrasts with Senator John McCain, particularly on the economy and his opposition to abortion rights.

[Caitlin Cone-Hoskins]

"THIS IS BARACK OBAMA'S CONVENTION"

[Caitlin Cone-Hoskins]

Michelle Obama Opens Convention... Barack To Appear Live Via Satellite After Her Speech... Drew Westen: What Obama Needs To Do In Denver... Kennedy In Denver, Could Speak...GOP Operatives In Denver... Today's Schedule... DNC Protesters: We're Being Treated Like Prisoners...
Hillary Clinton At The DNC: "This Is Barack Obama's Convention"
NEDRA PICKLER and DEVLIN BARRETT | August 25, 2008 02:55 PM EST | 



_{U.S. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton talks with supporters before touring the New York State Fair in Geddes N.Y. on Friday, August 22, 2008. (AP Photo/John Haeger)}


DENVER — Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama are working on a deal to give her some votes in the roll call for the Democratic presidential nomination, but quickly end the divided balloting in unanimous consent for Obama.

Democratic officials involved in the negotiations said Monday the idea is that at the start of the state-by-state vote for the presidential nomination Wednesday night, delegates would cast their votes for Clinton or Obama.

But the voting would be cut off after a couple of states, the officials said, perhaps ending with New York, when Clinton herself would call for unanimous backing for Obama from the convention floor. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity while the deal was being finalized.

Clinton said she has told her delegates she will vote for Obama, but she would not instruct them how to vote.

Many of those delegates, she told reporters Monday, will likely vote for him. Others, she said, "feel an obligation to the people who sent them here that they were elected to represent."

Clinton said part of her job at the convention will be letting those delegates know "that however they decide to vote, we will all be united behind Senator Obama."

"There is no doubt in anyone's mind that this is Barack Obama's convention," she said, adding that it is only natural for there to be some lingering issues to resolve after a tough primary.

"It would have been the same way if I had won and Barack was here supporting the unity of the party," she said. "This was a hard-fought campaign and there was a lot of intensity and passion associated with it, in part because of the historic nature of our two candidacies."

Clinton gives a prime-time convention speech Tuesday night, and the following day will gather her delegates together and publicly release them and urge them to support Obama.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who is chairwoman of the convention, acknowledged Monday that Democrats are not yet united following the bitter primary fight, especially among women. She said a "gender gap" in Obama's favor had emerged "even before the convention, and even before the complete reconciliation that we need," she said.

"But to stay wallowing in all of this is not productive," she said. "So we can talk about this forever, or we can talk about how we're going to take our message to the American people, to women all across America, to see the distinctions" between Obama and Republican candidate John McCain.

[Caitlin Cone-Hoskins]

Clinton expected to release delegates Wednesday
DEVLIN BARRETT | August 24, 2008 10:35 PM EST | 

DENVER — Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, hoping to unite the Democratic Party and cement her future in it, will gather her hard-won primary delegates Wednesday at a reception where she is expected to formally release them to Barack Obama.

The New York senator has invited her pledged delegates to a reception at the Colorado Convention Center, not far from the main Democratic National Convention arena.

The high-profile gathering of political regulars who once fought against Obama serves a dual purpose for Clinton: Show fellow Democrats that she can be a team player, and display her still-formidable political strengths for the future. Many of her supporters want her to run for president again.

A Democratic official told The Associated Press Sunday, a day before the convention begins, that she is expected to release her delegates at the Wednesday event. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to discuss details publicly.

Asked about Clinton's plans for the event, her spokesman Philippe Reines said it will be "an opportunity for Senator Clinton to see her delegates _ many for the first time since the primaries ended, thank them for their hard work and support, and most importantly to encourage them to support and work for Senator Obama as strongly as she has in order to elect him in November."

At an appearance in Fresno, California, for the United Farm Workers, Clinton declined to comment on her plans for the Wednesday event. She praised Obama's newly-minted running mate Joe Biden, another sign of party loyalty.

"I know him very well, and I know he has been on the front lines of the fight for social and economic justice his entire time in public service," Clinton said.

She has support among key voting groups that Obama has yet to win over, particularly women, older voters, and working-class voters.

[Caitlin Cone-Hoskins]

_{In this Thursday, June 28, 2007, file photo, Democratic Presidential hopeful Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., left, listens to Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., during the televised Democratic presidential candidates debate at Howard University in Washington. Democrats coalesced around Barack Obama's selection of Joe Biden as his running mate on Saturday, Aug. 23, 2008, while Republicans quickly seized on the Delaware senator's past criticism of the presidential candidate's inexperience. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)}


Coming into the convention, many Democrats have wondered exactly how and when Clinton would throw her delegates to Obama, and if that would be a messy, contentious affair.

Some Clinton delegates still plan to vote for her at the convention, even if she releases them.

"This is much bigger than Hillary," said Pam Durham, a Clinton delegate from Fort Worth, Texas. "I have a responsibility. I do not own my vote. I have to represent the voters who sent me."

Pat Bakalian, a Clinton delegate from Santa Cruz, Calif., agreed. She said she came to Denver to vote for Clinton, "and it's what I'm going to do."

Both Durham and Bakalian said Obama has not yet won their support. They are waiting to see how Clinton is treated at the convention, and to make sure the nominating process is run fairly.

Daniel Kagan, a Clinton delegate from Colorado, said, "I was sent to Denver to vote for Clinton. I would be letting my voters down if I voted for anyone else."

Kagan said he plans to vote for Obama in November, but he won't be volunteering for the campaign.

"I'll get behind it (the ticket) weakly," Kagan said.

Republicans are already trying to take advantage of such potential fissures.

John McCain's campaign launched a television ad suggesting rival Barack Obama snubbed Clinton because of her criticism during the Democratic primary fight.

The ad features clips of Clinton, including one in which she accused him of negative campaigning, and a voiceover announcer says: "She won millions of votes but isn't on the ticket. Why? For speaking the truth."

Clinton aides responded that she clearly supports Obama and agrees with him on important issues like health care and the Iraq war, and doesn't agree with McCain on those issues.

___

Associated Press Writer Stephen Ohlemacher in Denver and Tracie Cone in Fresno, Calif. contributed to this report.

[Caitlin Cone-Hoskins]

Bill Clinton Not Happy With Convention Speech Topic
Politico   |   August 25, 2008 08:33 AM




As Democrats arrived here Sunday for a convention intended to promote party unity, mistrust and resentments continued to boil among top associates of presumptive nominee Barack Obama and his defeated rival, Hillary Rodham Clinton.

One flashpoint is the assigned speech topic for former president Bill Clinton, who is scheduled to speak Wednesday night, when the convention theme is "Securing America's Future." The night's speakers will argue that Obama would be a more effective commander in chief than his Republican rival, Sen. John McCain (Ariz.).

The former president is disappointed, associates said, because he is eager to speak about the economy and more broadly about Democratic ideas -- emphasizing the contrast between the Bush years and his own record in the 1990s.

[Colleen Gallion]

THE HEADLINERS

Kennedy: "The Hope Rises Again And The Dream Lives On"... Michelle: "An Obligation To Fight For The World As It Should Be"

[Colleen Gallion]

Michelle Obama's Democratic Convention Speech
 Huffington Post   |   August 25, 2008 09:42 PM

The AP reports:

Michelle Obama declared "I love this country" Monday as she sought to reassure the nation that she and her husband Barack share Americans' bedrock values and belief in a dream of a better future.


In the first major address at the Democratic National Convention, Michelle Obama described herself as a daughter, a sister, a wife and a mother, no different from many women. She told a boisterous crowd waving signs reading "Michelle" that she and her husband feel an obligation to "fight for the world as it should be" to ensure the promise of a better life for their daughters and all children.

Michelle Obama talked about tucking in her daughters Malia and Sasha at night.

"I think about how one day, they'll have families of their own. And one day, they -- and your sons and daughters -- will tell their own children about what we did together in this election. They'll tell them how this time, we listened to our hopes, instead of our fears. How this time, we decided to stop doubting and to start dreaming," she said.

Michelle Obama's mission was to humanize her husband and convince skeptical voters to look past his unusual name and exotic background to envision him as the next president. Barack Obama has repeatedly faced questions about whether he's a real American.

She also used the address to dismiss questions about her patriotism. Republicans have criticized her comments earlier this year that she was "really proud" of her country for the first time. Her answer at the convention was to express her love of country.

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The Obamas' two daughters joined their mother on stage after the speech as Stevie Wonder's "Isn't She Lovely" blared from in the convention hall.

They spoke to Barack Obama, who appeared by satellite connection from Missouri.

"How about Michelle Obama?" he asked the crowd. "Now you know why I asked her out so many times even though she said no. You want a persistent president."

The girls responded to their father on the giant screen with "Hi, Daddy!" and "I love you, Daddy."

Michelle Obama didn't explicitly address race, but allaying concerns among white voters was part of the strategy for the first black nominee of a major party.

"Barack doesn't care where you're from, or what your background is, or what party -- if any -- you belong to. That's not how he sees the world," she said. "He knows that thread that connects us -- our belief in America's promise, our commitment to our children's future -- is strong enough to hold us together as one nation even when we disagree."

She joked about his love of basketball and his overcautious driving when he drove their first daughter home from the hospital. She described his upbringing by a single mother and grandparents who "scrimped and saved so that he could have opportunities they never had themselves."

E-mails and videos circulating on the Internet criticized him for attending a church that promoted black culture, for not wearing a flag pin on his lapel, for not putting his hand over his heart during the national anthem. They suggested -- falsely -- that he was secretly Muslim.

Michelle Obama's job was to show voters they have nothing to fear.

She said little about his policies beyond quickly mentioning his goal of ending the Iraq war, improving the economy and providing health for those who need it.

Michelle Obama drew enthusiastic cheers by praising Hillary Rodham Clinton for putting "those 18 million cracks in the glass ceiling" -- a reference to the failed Democratic candidate's vote total in the primaries. The crowd also roared

She was introduced by her brother, Craig Robinson, the head basketball coach at Oregon State University. Robinson noted that she memorized every episode of "The Brady Bunch" and praised her passion for helping others.

And before she appeared, the audience watched "South Side Girl," a biographical film narrated by her mother. It covered everything from her childhood to her career in law to her puzzled reaction to a hotshot law student interning at her firm.