Home again — after an all-nighter to guarantee I arrive at the Denver International Airport at 3:30 a.m. for a 6:15 a.m. flight. Last night completed a week I will never forget. This ticket to the INVESCO field for Barack Obama’s acceptance speech was my final goal for the non-stop DNC convention. All is forgiven (see previous post).
Kim Morton, who is running for DC’s Democratic State Committee (September 9 vote) and chair of DC for Obama met me at another designated “drop off” point with the plastic hologram stamped ticket of admission. These tickets were released to delegations early Thursday morning.
After driving in and parking downtown, our group jumped on the 16th Street Market bus, then onto a light rail at Union Station. After a quarter+ mile moving line, we finally arrived at the stadium. There were people outside the secured area still seeking tickets, holding up fingers for 1 and 2. Free bottled water was available along the foot path. We had to split up to find our seats. Seriously, what were the chances we would meet again in a crowd of 80,000 (per estimates)? Would we see each other on the screens as cameras panned the sections, or standing up in “the wave” that circled the stadium several times. But overall, the process of getting in and out was orderly.
Even with the star entertainment like Sheryl Crow, Stevie Wonder, and (I’ll add) Al Gore, my main purpose for being there was to hear Senator Barack Obama accept the nomination for POTUS. For months I’ve been anticipating my cathartic reaction to this historic occasion; but it didn’t happen at INVESCO field. Perhaps it’s because for me the game isn’t over yet.
If anyone thought Barack Obama was not up for a fight, his acceptance speech on the Bronchos 50 yard line put that assumption to rest. This candidate is definitely up to the task of fearlessly tackling his opponent.
John McCain has voted with George Bush ninety percent of the time. Senator McCain likes to talk about judgment, but really, what does it say about your judgment when you think George Bush has been right more than ninety percent of the time? I don’t know about you, but I’m not ready to take a ten percent chance on change.
Washington’s been talking about our oil addiction for the last thirty years, and John McCain has been there for twenty-six of them. In that time, he’s said no to higher fuel-efficiency standards for cars, no to investments in renewable energy, no to renewable fuels. And today, we import triple the amount of oil as the day that Senator McCain took office.
John McCain likes to say that he’ll follow bin Laden to the Gates of Hell – but he won’t even go to the cave where he lives.
In other words…IT’S ON!