The Reviews Are In…

By Nikole Killion/Washington Bureau Correspondent

WASHINGTON – As the attention turns to St. Paul and the Gulf Coast, the reviews are in from Denver. I spent the day traveling back to the nations’ capital and got an earful from delegates as they made their way back home. 

Here are just a few of the adjectives they used to describe the week:  “Once in a lifetime event”, “Amazing”, “Inspiring”, “Historical”…

It was quite a show…and with that I leave you with a few images from the final night at Invesco Field as Sen. Barack Obama accepted the Democratic nomination for President.

Stevie Wonder performs a special tribute to Barack Obama.

Former Vice President Al Gore addresses the crowd.

Vice Presidential Nominee Joe Biden speaks.

Sen. Barack Obama accepts the Democratic nomination for President of the United States.

The Obamas and Bidens share the stage.Fireworks light up the sky over Invesco Field.

 

Inside Invesco

By Nikole Killion / Washington Bureau Correspondent

DENVER – Affer spending the last three days inside of the Pepsi Center, it was time to move outdoors into our new digs – invesco Field at Mile High Stadium!

It’s home to the Denver Broncos, but this week it was home to Sen. Barack Obama and more than 80,000 of his closest friends.

Here’s a sneak peak inside:

   

As I surveyed the floor I couldn’t help but notice the seating arrangements. I’m not sure who decides where delegations are placed. But there’s definitely a strategy.

Delaware and Illinois are front and center. It seems obvious that both got the best seats in the house to enthusiastically support the hometown ticket – Illinois Senator and Presidential nominee Barack Obama and Delaware Senator and Vice Presidential nominee  Joe Biden.

 

But what about the other states?  Reading between the “signs”, I wondered whether the assignments could be indicative of Barack Obama’s campaign strategy.  For instance, Iowa, New Mexico, Colorado, Florida and Virginia are all up front near the stage.  Conincidentally those happen to be the same key battleground states that Team Obama want to make blue. 

Other states with decent views: Missouri , Montana, Indiana, Nevada and Pennsylvania. Hmmm…..all states where Obama also hopes to be competitive.

Hawaii is also towards the front, but it’s way off to the side (extreme stage left).  Perhaps the idea is to give the delegates a close up view of their native son.  But does the peripheral position suggest the island state is already considered a given under the Obama column and therefore requires less campaign effort?

And finally, there are states like Kentucky, Idaho Wyoming and Alabama. They are all located towards the back of the floor section.  Could this imply the Obama campaign has given up on these traditonally red states  and is counting them out?

Who knows? After all, it’s just a theory that may soon be tested after Obama leaves Invesco in a field that is still wide open. 

 

 

 

 

Where Are All The Stars??

By Malika Raghavan / Washington Bureau Producer

DENVER – At the risk of damaging my journalistic credibility, I have to admit, one of the first things I knew I was going to do as soon as I landed in this city, was to look out for as many celebrities as possible.  Fortunately, I’m not the only one!

Obviously, Denver is buzzing with governors, congressmen and various lawmakers.  But many familiar faces outside the political scene are also making an appearance at the convention.  According to reports, actors such as Ben Affleck, Jessica Alba, and Sean Penn, and even musicians like Kanye West, are all here supporting the Democratic party this week.

Well, if they are here, I certainly couldn’t find them!  With so many celebrities in one town, I figured my chances of meeting at least one or two celebrities were higher than they would have been back at home.  So hoping to catch a glimpse of at least one or two Hollywood faces, I set out for downtown with my trusty little video camera in hand.

Turns out finding celebrities is harder than I thought!  And while I didn’t end up completely empty handed, I wasn’t lucky enough to bump into well-known figures like Susan Sarandon, Spike Lee or Quentin Tarantino.  The fruits of my efforts are below…

done

Malik Yoba gives BET an interview at the 16th Street Mall.

'Lost' actor Daniel Dae Kim exits the convention floor of the Pepsi Center.

Initially, I didn’t know the names of the first two.  I just followed the excited crowds and snapped pictures, assuming I’d find out who it was later on.  And although Blair Underwood, Malik Yoba, and Daniel Dae Kim may not be huge names in Hollywood, it was still pretty neat to see people from television, up-close and personal.

I will say, working behind the scenes at the convention has given me to opportunity to see some major news personalities like Charles Gibson and George Stephanopoulos.  No pictures of either of them though since of course, I did not have my camera with me.  Our workspace is in the ABC News lot so I did run into Diane Sawyer in the bathroom.  She complained to me about how filthy it was…And all I could say was, “You’re Diane Sawyer!”

Hmm, on second thought, maybe it’s a good thing I didn’t meet any Hollywood stars.  I probably would have been too starstruck to really talk to them anyways…

Wires Wires Everywhere…

By Shaun Neville / Washington Bureau Producer

DENVER – Think your home entertainment system gets messy with wires?  Take a look at just one television cabling hub here at the Pepsi Center:

And a pretty picture from our compound tonight:

It’s Official

By Laurie Kinney / Washington Bureau Correspondent

DENVER – It’s official: Barack Obama is the Democratic nominee for president. We’re inside the Pepsi Center where this crowd of thousands is screaming “Yes we can” in unison now – just minutes after handing the nomination to Obama.

A little background: all day we’d been hearing conflicting rumors about how they’d work out the roll call here – because the deal was, Hillary Clinton was going to have her name placed in nomination too. Then as we got closer to roll call time we started hearing that Clinton herself would be down on the floor here with the New York delegation, and when it got to be New York’s turn in the roll call of states, she’d call for everyone to suspend the vote and nominate Obama by acclamation.

 And you know, you could really feel the tension building as they worked their way through the alphabet to the “N”s! As New York’s turn approached, there Clinton was, making her way to the floor. When the camera spotted her and she called for the hall to nominate Obama with “one voice,” the crowd went wild.

Our producer Malika shot some video of the big moment - take a look!     

done

The Big Chill

By Nikole Killion/Washington Bureau Correspondent

Warming up off camera before a live shot. And yes, I did take the sweater off before going on TV!

DENVER — Denver prides itself on the fact that they get at least 300 days of sunshine a year. And that seems to be holding true in the short time that I’ve been here. With the summer sun radiating across the Mile High City, the highs have reached the low-nineties almost every day. But, boy do the seasons change when we enter the Pepsi Center each morning. It almost feels like winter has turned our sky box into an ice box!

As I warm up in front of the lights, I observed some of the other morning crews and discovered that we are in pretty good company!

Diane Sawyer of ABC News.

 

Our next door neighbor is Good Morning America’s Diane Sawyer. And NBC’s Matt Lauer is in plain view on the convention floor.

 

 

NBC Today Show Host Matt Lauer

Other notable sightings: Former President Jimmy Carter, Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-RI), Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD), Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA), Political Commentators James Carvilleand Donna Brazile. (Sorry, no pictures. I was on the air!)

And speaking of sightings… with so many big names in town, everyone is trying to catch a glimpse of someone.  That was the case as I walked by the hotel where Bill and Hillary Clinton were rumored to be staying. There was a huge crowd gathered outside. But they weren’t necessarily looking for the former first couple.

So who were they waiting for? Here is one woman’s explanation…

done

Move To Invesco

By Shaun Neville / Washington Bureau Producer

DENVER – Yes, we’re all waiting for former President Bill Clinton and vice presidential nominee Joe Biden to take the stage tonight.  But to move from the Pepsi Center to Invesco Field is well underway.  And it’s adding a whole layer of complication to covering the convention.

FIrst off, the stage is built and the field is covered in seats and press boxes.  It’s amazing how quickly they got it up, considering there was a football game there last Thursday night.  You can judge for yourself when you see it tomorrow, but the stage looks like something out of ancient Greece to me.  It may look different when it’s lit, but all I can picture is someone walking on stage with a toga (There’s lots of pillars.  As I said, you can judge for yourself tomorrow).

Our standup locations are set and our edit gear has moved to the Invesco parking lot, where we’ll be working out of a couple UHaul trailers over the next 24 hours.  It’s a bare-bones operation, and I’m just hoping it’s not too hot. 

Tonight, we join a massive secret service media convoy to get the rest of our gear over there.  It’s going to be tight for almost every media member here (there are thousands of us).  Convention coverage just wasn’t designed to be picked up and moved in the middle of the week.  Wish us luck, and if all works out, you’ll see us on air Thursday morning.

The Green Scene

By Malika Raghavan / Washington Bureau Producer

A company promotes wind energy by displaying a wind turbine in front of the Colorado Convention Center.

DENVER – When you think of Denver, you might associate it with Western images like the Rocky Mountains and dry brown land.  At least, that’s what I think of.  I had no idea this city was so green…For this one week anyways.

Of course, I don’t mean green in the literal sense.  I’m talking about being environmentally friendly.  As most of you are probably already aware, Democrats are hoping to make this convention the greenest one yet.  And green means GREEN — in big capital letters.

All over the Pepsi Center you’ll find several bins specifically for recycling — No trashing of recyclable items allowed.  And they make sure you have plenty of places to toss your plastic water bottles, old newspapers and yes, even compostable food!

Recycling bins outside the front entrance direct what items go where.

But recycling isn’t the only thing going on in this town.  This green project is taking place on a much larger scale.

Lets take driving for example.  Instead of taking cabs, a company called Freewheelin has donated a thousand bikes, helmets and locks included, hoping to encourage tourists, and locals, for a new transportation initiative.  With several pick-up/drop-off sites conveniently located around the city, and various road-blocks, the idea is inviting!

Hundreds of bikes waiting to be checked out.

But the best part is – It’s free!  And this project doesn’t end with the convention.  Here’s what a spokesperson had to say about what happens post-convention season.

done

If that’s not enough to convince you to ride instead of drive, how about a familiar famous face?  Matthew Modine made an appearance at one of the sites today, planning his biking route around town.

Matthew Modine explains why biking is the way to go.

After riding around the city, you’re sure to build up an appetite.  Why not stop at one of almost 30 restaurants offering a special “Lean n Green” menu?  Or, if you’d rather make your own food, how about using a solar cooker?  I got to try some freshly baked cookies and I promise, they tasted as good as anything from the kitchen! 

Check out how they work:

done

Hitting the city for a night out on the town?  Local parties are going green too!

A poster promotes a green-themed party.

And that’s just a handful of the greening occurring all over Denver.  What will be interesting to see is whether these efforts catch on and encourage people to be more environmentally-friendly on a daily basis. 

For now though, one thing is for sure…A green frontier is taking over this scene!

From Front Door To The Floor

By Shaun Neville / Washington Bureau Producer

DENVER – Walking into the convention is a lot like walking into a sporting event.  And of course, that makes sense.  This may be the home of the Democrats this week, but the rest of the year, it’s the home of the Nuggets (NBA) and Avalanche (NHL).

They’re selling merchandise inside and the food venders are open.  The crowd goes nuts when the big players take the stage (the rest of the time, there’s sporatic applause, but mostly just a hum of the crowd). 

Of course, the big difference is, I don’t see too many Carmelo Anthony jerseys.  And there’s a lot more people in suits. 

Our intern Cathaerine Fergson takes you from the front door to inside the hall so you can see for yourself:

done

Can They Get It Together?

 By: Laurie Kinney/Washington Bureau Correspondent

Okay – so it’s supposed to be all about unity here, but boy: did we run into some angry people over the last couple of days and you can’t help wondering if these folks will get together in the end.

A couple of examples:

Went downtown today for a pro-Hillary march expecting maybe a few people here and there – and found ourselves in the middle of a rally of at least a couple hundred, very fired-up, very passionate folks: mostly women, as has been reported is usually the case. Some on the fence about who to support now – others ready to vote McCain.   

Also got right in the middle of a heated confrontation between the pro-Hillary and pro-Obama sides in front of the Convention Center, one HIllary supporter literally screaming that she felt betrayed by her party. Put that on the air tonight. 

But perhaps most telling in some ways… last night I could not help noticing a little knot of women delegates in the Ladies’ Room right here in the Pepsi Center where the convention is going on, all with their heads together venting about Hillary, about how they felt she was robbed.

 It’s a snapshot… and hard to know if it will have any significance on the national stage. But the passion is there. And you have to wonder if Democrats will be able to channel it for the Obama ticket in time for November.