Photos from the DNC streets

I walked around downtown at lunch taking photos. It's hard to take photos of crazy looking people, because you can't really ask them if it's okay to take a photo of them, because then they will know you only took the photo because you think they are crazy looking.

Anyway, this is in the driveway of a hotel. Notice the black SUV and the six armed law enforcement types.


The Mississippi delegation planted the tree this tag was stapled on.
Fox News? Yeah, Fox news interviewing some poor hapless dems.

Signage all over.
Non busy side street.

Heard outside this store: "They want way too much money for this stuff."

A gaggle of heavy armed police types (on the right) just happen to be talking to the young Rock the Vote chicks on the left.

One of my goals was to snap a Secret Service guy. Here he is. On the left. Can you see the earpiece?

Roving SWAT team? These guys all had machine guns. Notice the guy on the right with the machine gun in his hands?

More cops outside the Hard Rock. Because that is where all the terrorists like to hang.

Painted cover of 5280 magazine on the side of a brick building.

Band playing on top of a truck sponsored, apparently, by Qdoba.

Merchandise.

More merchandise.



On board with Obama in 08.

Dog tags with Obama photos, and Obama figurine pins.

This was my favorite vendor.

Obama onesies.

Posters and postcards.

More merchandise.

The Dems are in town!

Just got back from walking around downtown Denver.

It's as busy as a New York City sidewalk at lunch.

It's chaotic, overrun with Democrats here for the Democratic National Convention.

And I've never been more proud to be either a Coloradoan or a Democrat.

Everyone is happy, easygoing. There is a palpable excitement running through the streets. The vendors are out, selling buttons, magnets, shirts, hats, bags, keychains and even a cookie cutter in the shape of a donkey.

Delegates are strolling the streets. Press are on every corner. I can tell the difference because everyone has their credentials proudly displayed. I counted 5 TV cameras.

The post office worker I spoke to told me the post master had a schedule of protests. We schedule protests in Denver?

Police are everywhere. In the span of 3 city blocks I saw 10 cops mounted on horseback, 2 bike cops, walking cops on every street, a protest with police escort, a secret service type just standing at a corner looking fierce and then 2 more cops on horseback (and even the horses had riot gear over their faces). A friend of mine saw multiple black SUV's with armed guards on the outside driving around - 3 on each side, 2 on the back. Roving SWAT teams.

Helicopters are constantly in the air.

I teared up in awe and happiness 4 times. Once when I first saw the depth and breadth of humanity in my town. Another time when I was in the official DNC store, and I saw a mom and her teenage daughter earnestly discussing which buttons to buy and I thought of Brody and me doing the same. Another time when I walked by a delegate. . . I got chills. That's a delegate! A real live delegate! And then when I looked at the row of vendor tables on the mall (Denver's mile-long no-cars-allowed street of restaurants, bars, retail stores) swarming with people buying up every button and t-shirt in existence, and realized all of these people are going to vote for Obama. Everyone I see.

What a country.