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One day down and three more to go here in Denver at the Democratic National Convention. Below are some of the top moments of Day 1 for DCist (and a couple lowlights for good measure).
- Sen. Ted Kennedy's speech, obvs. The expectations going in were that this would be the senator's final public speech -- but Kennedy walked out on stage and continued standing during his entire speech, defying expectations that he would look different, appear to be very weak and need to sit on the stool that had been brought out for him due to his cancer treatment. Several delegates we were near had already started to get teary during the video tribute to Kennedy, so the emotional impact of the incredibly popular senator promising that he would "be there next January on the floor of the United States Senate" packed a real wallop. Kennedy was the hit of the night on the convention floor.
- Michelle Obama's speech was a close second. I had to head out of the Pepsi Center while she was still talking, but the entire house was rapt as she described what she and her husband have in common: "He was raised by grandparents who were working class folks just like my parents, and by a single mother who struggled to pay the bills just like we did," she said. Mrs. Obama did a good job convincing the crowd that she is a working mother who can identify with the struggles of ordinary Americans, proving herself a real asset to the campaign.
- At a party co-hosted by the Distilled Spirits Council of America and The Hill newspaper, Hill Editor-in-Chief Hugo Gurdon told DCist that he had hired some local band he couldn't remember the name of for the entertainment, largely because he couldn't justify spending $250,000 to hire someone like Tom Petty. That "local band" turned out to Denver's own DeVotchKa, who are certainly in my top 10 favorite bands, if not top five. I happily rocked out after being surprised when strains to "Queen of the Surface Streets" started spilling out of the club.
- Not great moments: Getting in and out of the Pepsi Center. I already told you how it took a long time to get inside in the afternoon. Well I made a mistake on my way out and ended up getting myself stuck in the shuttle bus bay and forced to ride one in to downtown Denver, even though that wasn't actually where I had been intending to go. Naturally, traffic was so backed up that the bus ride took three times as long as it should. Hopefully tonight I'll be able to find out which way I have to go to be allowed to walk out of the perimeter and find a taxi.
- The food in the Pepsi Center: not good. Basically there's just limited stadium concessions, things like hotdogs and pre-made deli sandwiches. Maybe the fancy big time media outlets are somehow managing to feed their reporters dinner, but I couldn't figure out any other option than to pay $6.50 for a mediocre hot dog. If anyone who's in Denver figured out some way to eat a meal while working last night, let me know!
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The last time I checked this was DCist.com, not DNCist.com
So how long were you waiting to use that line?
My wrap up of the first convention day: Look at me I'm great, lie, lie, lie, glorious history of the party, lie, lie, yaaawwwwnnnn, lie, lie, lie, change, lie, lie, yaawwnn.
Bet I could use this tomorrow, too.
Seriously ... you left during the most "important" speech of the night so that you could go to a booze industry party?
Also, people need to just get over the fact that DCist is at the convention, already. The Dems deliberately decided to woo younger, local-issue-oriented voters by inviting a "state blogger corps" to the convention, and DCist got one of the DC slots.
I'm sure that if the Republicans are offering something similar at their convention, DCist has attempted to get one of those slots as well. If they don't offer the opportunity, though, it won't be DCist's fault that there's "unequal" coverage.
So when did dcist become denverist? I really fail to see how any of this convention coverage has any relevance to dcist readership. Yeah, I suppose, one of these clowns will end up living downtown, and spewing a bunch of patronizing rhetoric about how shameful it is that DC residents have no voting rights, and we need to have a "war for the vote" and proceed to do ABSOLUTELY NOTHING ABOUT IT FOR THE NEXT FOUR TO EIGHT YEARS. Like LNS, we really need to just ignore the convention and hope it goes away.
Besides, whatever happened to that bear cub in the leather chaps?
Don't look down on the concession stand hot dog, USDA regulated at no more than 2% donkey meat. At the DNC that's authenticity you can taste.
politics drive this town ya'll, just because it is happening in denver doesn't mean it is irrelevent to dc peeps.
how about that ted kennedy? what better way to connect with the average american voter than by running a video of teddy sailing on HIS YACHT.
if it's one thing everyone can relate to, it's SAILING A YACHT.
let's hope they get this stuff out of the way now so we don't see obama goose hunting in the paper down the home stretch.
What a bunch of jackasses.
Thank you, DCist! You've helped me decide who I'm voting for in November.
It ain't Obama.......It ain't McCain.......It is that bear cub in the leather chaps.
vote for change——vote for the nickel
BooBoo the Bear in leather asschaps has my vote, too. He defends gay marriage with a bloodthirsty snarl. He supports your Second Amendment right to keep and arm bears. And he's comfortable with his lifestyle choice. The only thing standing between him and the White House is a history of swiping picnic baskets. But if he gets Karl Rove in his camp, I feel he can mount a successful smear campaign against Ranger Smith.
Sommer Mathis, you need a journalistic kick in the ass. You're squandering an opportunity of historic proportions. Writing about the food and crowded elevators, you're just contributing to the glazed-over eyes of readers looking for a reason to care about this election or about democracy.
Instead of wasting your time at the liquor industry lobby party, you could have been digging into the underpinnings of the convention. Look at the story about how CNN decided to allocate $100,000 of their meager budget to rent a 'skycam' for Obama's acceptance speech. What a great example of style over content and proof positive that broadcast journalism has lost it's way journalistically. Think of the in-depth investigative reporting they could have funded with that $100,000. Nope. Skycam.
Mathis, wake up. Get in there and start talking to people. Go check out the protesters exiled a mile away and see what they're bitching about. Good job on the 'taxation without representation' photos. Keep that kind of thing up. Do you need some assignments? Go ask some of the most fervent delegates how long they think their candidate is going to staff ongoing military installations in Iraq regardless of the resolution of the war.
Oh, and don't just write summaries of what people saw on tv here. I could have written that for you after watching the event on digital cable. You're a writer working for free. You're stoked because you've gotten something to put on your resume. A future prospective employer will be more wowed if you come out of this event with something in your portfolio. Complaints about the food and elevators ain't gonna get you your next job.
Seth