Barack Like Me

I drove up from Manitou Springs yesterday and had to figure out the logistics - finding my suburban lodging, calling the owner to find out how to lock the place back up, finding a place to park the rental car at the Park & Ride, and figuring out the light rail. So I forgot my photo upload cord and AC adaptor for the laptop. I got out right next to the Investco Center where Obama will speak and it was crawling with tactical police. There were some Minnesota delegates on my train and the bunch of us walked the metal perimeter fences to where they could present their credentials and enter the Pepsi Center. I continued through the No Man's Land further on to the streets of Obama cottage industries. It looked like a Third World Nation with only pedestrians, pedicabs and bicycles.

I headed to the Big Tent, sponsored by Daily Kos, Google and Digg and the Alliance Center next door. This section consists of a gymnasium-sized space full of chatty bloggers and engrossed, typing bloggers. Upstairs is the Digg Stage, where RFK Jr spoke yesterday, among others. The Alliance Center has toilets that flush at two rates and lights that sense daylight and shut down some. Arianna Huffington is running this New Age space with vegan food, masseuse services - it's like a spa and in one of the photos I'll post you will see Arianna blogging. I ran into my friend Ari Melber from The Nation (& HuffPo) and met his brother who is working for Obama. We heard some guys saying "Do you think we'll see Obama Girl again?"



The Pepsi Center is where the delegates, politicians and other honchos are (plus innumerable press) and once inside, nutritional sustenance is limited to things like expensive water and hot dogs. I do see alot of people with passes for there wandering around the streets though, picking up their Obama merch and hitting the parties. Everything is corporate-sponsored but at least for Democrats, some of the corporations sell things like wheat grass or fair trade candy bars. I am drinking Blind-Roasted Coffee and notice that the guy who sell sit is actually blind. The Tattered Cover bookstore is great. New Belgium Beer has a booth out front that loans out hundreds of bicycles for free. Fat Tire Ale is flowing as well.

Big Tent is where I saw Ted Kennedy and Michelle Obama on the tube. I "saw" them on one of the cable network feeds but the audio we had was C-Span, after we screamed for it. I don't want to hear pundits. Today I got up, took the light rail back here, and claimed my spot on this couch (most people are at tables) and refuse to move. I had done some blogging last night for Northwest Progressive Institute (on their computer) but today wanted to catch up with the blogs I'm representing at the Big Tent (though I'm helping Andrew at NPI), which are Silenced Majority Portal and Democracy Cell Project.

A little while ago, Katie Couric was here with her entourage and I didn't even move. Some press org interviewed a guy from DailyKos (don't know his name) and he did a good job dealing with their leading questions. (He was sitting on this very couch.) They were asking him leading questions like "Do you think it was gracious of Michelle Obama to acknowledge Hillary Clinton last night, but don't you think Hillary should have been vetted for VP, even if it was just going through the motions." If I got on camera at all, I hope I was rolling my eyes. I overheard one guy say, "Yesterday Daryl Hanna .. today Katie Couric."

McJoan from DKos is standing about 10 feet from me and she is talking to some of these snoopy outside "real" press but I heard them complaining that bloggers are too "busy" to talk to them. Ha Ha Someone else is talking about what they said to Fox and just now someone came up and tried to give me literature. It gets to feel like Moonies. Alot of people are wearing these cool buttons that look like McCain buttons with the little decoration on the top, but then they say "Ask Me How Many Houses I Own."