Attending the Acceptance Speech

Yesterday, my friend Julia came to my desk to ask if I wanted to go see Obama. I simply thought she meant go back outside to the hotel where he is staying and watch the motorcade drive by again. I grabbed my camera and said sure.

That's when she surprised me. She meant go see Obama. I immediately said yes. No matter what needed to be done throughout the rest of the day, I had to be there. After clearing it through everyone, we left.

Unfortunately, we didn't really think this part through. We got a taxi that took us to the Pepsi Center and then walked the 2 miles to meet our tickets. Her friend, a lobbyist with Planned Parenthood, had 2 extra tickets. (Thank you Planned Parenthood for the seats and I will be voting against 47 in November!) And then we waited. And we waited. And we waited. We stood in line for 3 1/2 hours to get through security and up to our seats.

When the Rockies were in the playoffs last year, I sat in the 2nd to last row of the stadium. When Obama spoke last night, I was in the 10th to last row of the stadium. We had a great view of the back of every speakers head. But I was there. I was there when Obama accepted the nomination. I was a part of history.

My only complaint about last night isn't the walk or the long line, or the location of our seats. It was that I couldn't hear Al Gore or Obama speak. The echo was horrible that high up and when the crowd got excited, well, it should have been an adult from a Peanuts cartoon. Thankfully CNN always posts the text from the speeches and I was able to read what each man had to say.

Historic? Definitely. Aw inspiring? You betcha. Chance of a lifetime? Of course. Would I do it again? In a heartbeat.

And if that wasn't enough, in a crowd of 75,000, I was able to see my friend Jeni, randomly on the street. Want proof of the evening? Click here.

BREAKING NEWS

I GET TO SEE OBAMA TONIGHT...LIVE, IN PERSON, AT INVESCO.

yes, you should feel the excitement.

The DNC

Once this week finally settles down and I can finally breathe, I'll post on what having the DNC in town has meant to me. For the time being, after watching most of it on TV over the last few days (and tonight at a watch party), here's one of the better parts from Bill Clinton's speech:

The Republicans will nominate a good man who served our country heroically and suffered terribly in Vietnam. He loves our country every bit as much as we all do. As a Senator, he has shown his independence on several issues. But on the two great questions of this election, how to rebuild the American Dream and how to restore America's leadership in the world, he still embraces the extreme philosophy which has defined his party for more than 25 years, a philosophy we never had a real chance to see in action until 2001, when the Republicans finally gained control of both the White House and Congress. Then we saw what would happen to America if the policies they had talked about for decades were implemented.
They took us from record surpluses to an exploding national debt; from over 22 million new jobs down to 5 million; from an increase in working family incomes of $7,500 to a decline of more than $2,000; from almost 8 million Americans moving out of poverty to more than 5 and a half million falling into poverty - and millions more losing their health insurance.
Now, in spite of all the evidence, their candidate is promising more of the same: More tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans that will swell the deficit, increase inequality, and weaken the economy. More band-aids for health care that will enrich insurance companies, impoverish families and increase the number of uninsured. More going it alone in the world, instead of building the shared responsibilities and shared opportunities necessary to advance our security and restore our influence.
They actually want us to reward them for the last eight years by giving them four more. Let's send them a message that will echo from the Rockies all across America: Thanks, but no thanks. In this case, the third time is not the charm.

Why I feel like I'm going to fail at the DNC

In recent months, I had a brush with a celebrity and froze in the moment. I figured that I could redeem myself and somehow, I wouldn't embarrass myself come DNC time.

However, after last night, I think that I am going to fail miserably in the next few weeks.

My friend Sara and I went to see Joshua Radin last night at my favorite venue in Denver. As we stood in the crowd, I realized we standing next to Joshua. Eventually I asked him if he often stands in the crowd and his response was no, but that he thought he should. When the opening act finished, I reminded him that he had to go get ready. His response "Oh yeah, I have to go put on my eyeliner".

When the lights dimmed, I realized my mistake. The person I had been talking to wasn't Joshua. It was his bass player.

Oh. My. God.

I felt like the perpetual L should be branded on my forehead. I felt like the biggest idiot in the world.

I realized in that moment, I'm either going to confuse someone or not even recognize them come DNC time.

But the show was fantastic. Especially the part where Joshua came out to the crowd and stood about 100 feet from us and played acoustically.