Denver, Colorado is a large metropolitan city but usually it’s laid back—something like a sleeping giant. However, Denver, the host city for the 2008 Democratic National Convention (DNC) is anything but sleepy, it’s as if someone injected this giant with an adrenaline shot right to the heart. An employee at Edgeworks bicycle shop said that he was biking around on Sunday night and that the city, “just didn’t feel like Denver.” Walking through the normally quiet yet busy downtown pedestrian mall was not business as usual today August 25th, the first day of the Convention.

There were protestors walking the streets in small numbers. A group of anti-gay marriage protestors were shouting vitriolic statements at a small group of pro-gay marriage supporters. The police, with little else to do, watched closely to maintain the flow of car and foot traffic and make sure that nothing got out of hand. The police presence in Denver is abundant with SWAT team vans, swarms of bicycle police and police helicopters constantly patrolling overhead.

Hillary supporters, though few in numbers were still holding a grudge that Obama is the Democratic candidate. They made themselves visible by wearing pro-Hillary buttons and holding signs protesting Barack Obama. There were SEIU union members handing out flyers for a Wednesday rally on health care. Diane, an SEIU union member working at Kaiser Permanente and living in Park Hill, which is a long time African American community in Denver, said that, “Denver was off the chain.” She was excited about attending the convention and going to Obama’s acceptance speech on Thursday evening at the Invesco Field at Mile High Stadium.

This convention is capitalizing on Obama fervor. A change is a comin’ and it may take us all the way to a White House with the first African American president. But before that happens the four days of the 2008 DNC will no doubt go down in history. The Convention isn’t just four days of speakers for those “with credentials.” This time it’s about independent media, protests, politics and the opportunity for more public participation from regular folks in party politics.

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