Thursday, August 28, 2008
Republican demonstrators at Convention
Denver Mall, following Biden & Bill Clinton
Following the speeches on August 27th, 2008, at the Democratic Nominating Convention in Denver, the 16th Street Mall was buzzing. Here are three snapshot.
First, a quick clip of some vendors who knew their product was best viewed after dark:
Next, a teenage activist from Philly in to take part in counter-protests expresses concerns about the police presence and behavior. (Dark; think of it as an audio segment...)
She told me her parents are worried, but that she calls her mother every day.
Lastly, a conversation with a Denver resident as we rode the free mall shuttle. He's delighted with the fact the convention is "here" and thinks the political process benefits from being done right out in front of people. He also has some observations about Senator Joe Biden in the wake of Biden's acceptance speech.
First, a quick clip of some vendors who knew their product was best viewed after dark:
Next, a teenage activist from Philly in to take part in counter-protests expresses concerns about the police presence and behavior. (Dark; think of it as an audio segment...)
She told me her parents are worried, but that she calls her mother every day.
Lastly, a conversation with a Denver resident as we rode the free mall shuttle. He's delighted with the fact the convention is "here" and thinks the political process benefits from being done right out in front of people. He also has some observations about Senator Joe Biden in the wake of Biden's acceptance speech.
James Tucker, African American Voice, on Hillary Clinton's OBAMA endorsement speech
James Tucker is the CEO and publisher of African American Voice, "the voice of African Americans in Colorado." Here's a short, candid assessment of Senator Hillary Clinton's speech on the night of August 26th, 2008, endorsing Barack Obama's nomination for President in Denver at the Democratic Nominating Convention.
Code Pink Elderly Woman Protester Slammed To Ground By Denver Police
This is a totally terrible thing to see on a video, let alone read about. An elderly woman protester was slammed to the ground at the DNC Convention by Denver Police. (Or I would double check that because some of the law enforcement officers were from places like Aurora, Colorado.)
There's no need for this behavior at the DNC Convention and some kind of investigation should be done immediately. See the video, which was captured by Rocky Mountain News.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
The Anti-Surprise
All day, we had been hearing rumors that Barack Obama would make an appearance at the convention tonight. So when he strolled out onto the stage, I can't say I was really surprised. Please, thrilled, excited, yes. Surprised? No.
The excitement and energy of Obama's appearance was exactly what this convention night needed, though. While Bill Clinton and John Kerry made very good speeches tonight and the overall energy in the hall was good, the Biden speech was a bit of a low point. Yes, he was strong on the issues, but he sort of lost the crowd when he went into foreign policy territory, only regaining them when he started doing what VPs are supposed to do: hit at the other candidate. The end of his speech did not create the sort of raucous convention hall environment that we certainly saw last night. Having Obama arrive, however, put the mildly energetic crowd into a frenzy and left everyone nigh foaming at the mouth for tomorrow night. Invesco should be a roaring good time.
The excitement and energy of Obama's appearance was exactly what this convention night needed, though. While Bill Clinton and John Kerry made very good speeches tonight and the overall energy in the hall was good, the Biden speech was a bit of a low point. Yes, he was strong on the issues, but he sort of lost the crowd when he went into foreign policy territory, only regaining them when he started doing what VPs are supposed to do: hit at the other candidate. The end of his speech did not create the sort of raucous convention hall environment that we certainly saw last night. Having Obama arrive, however, put the mildly energetic crowd into a frenzy and left everyone nigh foaming at the mouth for tomorrow night. Invesco should be a roaring good time.
Hillary Clinton Suspended Voting; Nominated Barack Obama President - Video
This is a live capture video of Senator Hillary Clinton's dramatic entrance into the convention floor and with Representative Charlie Rangel and Governor David Patterson. The state-by-state voting was suspended and Senator Barack Obama is now officially the Democratic Nominee for President of The United States.
New Hampshire and New Jersey follow Clinton's call
The New Hampshire chair stood up and said that they were following Clinton's call and casting all of their 30 votes for Obama.
New Jersey stood up next and unanimously cast all of their votes for Obama to huge, raucous cheers in the hall. Z's gonna vlog on this ... watch for it.
New Jersey stood up next and unanimously cast all of their votes for Obama to huge, raucous cheers in the hall. Z's gonna vlog on this ... watch for it.
Roll Call Voting In Process
It's 4:25 pm and we're in the blogger suite watching the roll call vote. We arrived after the vote began, but so far, the Michigan delegation has received the largest ovation. After all of the issues with seating MI delegates, they cast 125 votes to Obama and 27 to Clinton, with 5 not voting. We missed the FL vote. Darn.
Each state chair is giving proud facts about his or her state before they cast their vote. We're hearing about state hockey champs, which Senators were born where, etc. The floor is bustling and the blogger section is getting full. Thus far, there doesn't seem to be any real dissention, no fighting, etc. Votes are being cast for Obama and for Clinton without drama, except the excitement of nominating the next President of the United States. We heard earlier that the Clinton folks were trying to figure out a way to shut down the roll call vote in order to hold her voting in check and avoid any floor fireworks, but they apparently either decided not to or couldn't get the rules worked out.
As the voting closes and we get a final tally, I'll blog again. This is fun, y'all. Wish you were here.
A view from a cab - DNC Convention
I mentioned earlier that all of the cab drivers I've dealt with here have been fantastic. One of them was so interesting that I had to interview him on the spot. His name is Tawir Tawir and if I hadn't lost my cell phone, I'd have a great picture of him to show you. Tawir is a 40 year old man from the Sudan and he's been in the US for seven years. He's applied for US citizenship, but three years later, he's on his second fingerprint check. His name and the fact that he's a Muslim put him in a position to make immigration much more difficult.
Here's a recap of our conversation:
Ash: How do you feel, overall, about Obama and McCain?
Tawir: I like Obama, not because he's black like me, but because he means change. McCain just wants war, he will go into Iran, and make things worse.
Ash: Since you're a Muslim, how do you feel about Americans fearing that Obama might be a Muslim, when we know he's a Christian? Why do you think that's such an issue?
Tawir: Americans are scared of Muslims because of Osama bin Laden. The Jewish people fought Muslims for a long time and bin Laden gave them a chance to bring their fight into the open in the US. Israeli groups control the media in this country and that perpetuates the anti-Muslim feelings and that led us to Iraq. Or at least that's how I feel.
Ash: You're from the Sudan. Talk to me about the situation there.
Tawir: Darfur is Muslim, but this is not about religion. The government situation in the Sudan is not fair. There needs to be more in the Senate from Darfur. All politicians are from the Northern part of the Sudan. Americans are paying attention to the Sudan, but only to the Southern part and they are ignoring the Eastern and Western parts. The Northern part gets all of the politicans; the Presidents all come from the North.
There is a lot of oil in Darfur right now and that's why Americans are so interested in helping out. The Chinese control the oil in Darfur right now, but the Chinese people aren't interested in helping out the Sudanese people, only serving the government. The people do not get the money and the government does not spend the money on things the people need, like roads and schools, but only build themselves bigger buildings.
That pretty much concluded our interview, with just a short discussion of the party he had attended the night before for the Sudanese President, who is in town during the Convention. Apparenlty, there is a decent size Sudanese community here in Denver.
Tawir says that he will absolutely vote when he gets his citizenship. If he could vote in this election, he would cast that vote for Barack Obama.
Here's a recap of our conversation:
Ash: How do you feel, overall, about Obama and McCain?
Tawir: I like Obama, not because he's black like me, but because he means change. McCain just wants war, he will go into Iran, and make things worse.
Ash: Since you're a Muslim, how do you feel about Americans fearing that Obama might be a Muslim, when we know he's a Christian? Why do you think that's such an issue?
Tawir: Americans are scared of Muslims because of Osama bin Laden. The Jewish people fought Muslims for a long time and bin Laden gave them a chance to bring their fight into the open in the US. Israeli groups control the media in this country and that perpetuates the anti-Muslim feelings and that led us to Iraq. Or at least that's how I feel.
Ash: You're from the Sudan. Talk to me about the situation there.
Tawir: Darfur is Muslim, but this is not about religion. The government situation in the Sudan is not fair. There needs to be more in the Senate from Darfur. All politicians are from the Northern part of the Sudan. Americans are paying attention to the Sudan, but only to the Southern part and they are ignoring the Eastern and Western parts. The Northern part gets all of the politicans; the Presidents all come from the North.
There is a lot of oil in Darfur right now and that's why Americans are so interested in helping out. The Chinese control the oil in Darfur right now, but the Chinese people aren't interested in helping out the Sudanese people, only serving the government. The people do not get the money and the government does not spend the money on things the people need, like roads and schools, but only build themselves bigger buildings.
That pretty much concluded our interview, with just a short discussion of the party he had attended the night before for the Sudanese President, who is in town during the Convention. Apparenlty, there is a decent size Sudanese community here in Denver.
Tawir says that he will absolutely vote when he gets his citizenship. If he could vote in this election, he would cast that vote for Barack Obama.
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