Justin Weihs shoots Plum TV host Jeb Berrier at the Democratic National Convention. Stay tuned for updates!
The Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colo. may be all about the blue, but we've got Plum covering it. Here's what our correspondent, Chris Hanson, has to say about the event:
Aug. 25, 2008
We were supposed to leave Telluride at 7 a.m. on Sunday to drive to Denver for the DNC, but I got a last minute call from Jeb who said he had offered a ride to a Lebanese delegate who was in town visiting a friend. So we would probably be running a little late since Jeb had to go pick this guy
up. His name was Dave and he felt bad that he was stuck in town without a ride. "Fine by me," I thought. Very KOTO ride-boardish to offer an out-of-towner a ride to Denver for the Democratic National Convention. So when Justin and Jeb showed up at my front door at 7:30 a.m., we were a crew of four men and a dog (Justin brought his dog Jax as well), loading camera equipment to cover the DNC for Plum.
The ride to the front range was uneventful. Dave told us all about how he lived in Lebanon, went to school at UC Berkeley before getting into politics by volunteering as a foreign delegate for the Democratic party (worth 1/2 a vote).
We sped down I-70 talking politics and gossiping away about all things Telluride. We had to make it the Sheraton Hotel in downtown Denver between 3:30 and 4 p.m. to pick up our press credentials for the Pepsi Center. We stopped in Palisade for food, in Glenwood Springs to get our "photoshopped" Plum credentials laminated, and on top of Vail Pass for some air and to let Jax run around. We made it to the Sheraton by 2:30 p.m. and had some time to kick around.
We rolled over to the green by the State Capitol where all the demonstrators met to start their parade routes. The first thing we noticed was the massive police presence. There were packs of riot police everywhere, SWAT teams in the streets and on the sidewalks, cops on bikes in packs of 20, and cops on horses wearing riot helmets (both the horses and the cops). There were helicopters flying overhead and fire trucks racing down the street with their sirens blaring. It felt like a police state on steroids.
As a result, the protests felt rather lame. You just had a sense that if anyone did anything to piss off the cops, they were going to get their skulls cracked and arrested without a thought. We walked around by the Capitol where vendors had set up booths to sell Obama swag: tee shirts,
posters, pins. There were also a lot of artists selling their wares. The Denver Indian Center held a Native American dance-off which gave the whole day a sense of historic nostalgia. We decided to head back to pick up our credentials and get over to the Fillmore Auditorium for our first event of
the week.
Native Americans perform ritual dances at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colo.
Friends of New Orleans threw an event at the Fillmore called the All-Star Jam-Balaya to raise money and awareness for victims of Katrina and the city itself. The Meters played, along with the cast of the new Broadway musical about Ray Charles. It was a great event well attended by many, both young and old. The food was terrific, as was the music. We shot a bunch of footage and interviews (watch for our coverage -piece to post this weekend), and then called it a day.
Today we plan to go down and check out some more of the marches. The Pepsi Center opens for the convention so we'll probably check that out. Tonight we have two events to cover; the first is called "Count Me In for Women's Economic Independence" with special guest Hillary Rodham Clinton at the Denver Art Museum and the second is the "Head Count Turn Up the Vote Party" featuring Robert Randolph and the Family Band at the Ogden Theater.
Tune in tomorrow to get more Plum Coverage of the DNC in Denver.
Add your comments...