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DENVER — We bumped into the first batch of riot police less than five minutes after pulling into Downtown Denver Sunday afternoon — a scrum of five or six helmet-wearing guys toting super-sized batons and wearing dozens of pairs of plastic, zip-tie handcuffs on their belts.
A loud, chanting noise suddenly got louder. And just like that, hundreds of young protesters wearing bandanas over their faces and toting plain orange and black flags poured down 15th Street on their way to the busy 16th Street walking mall. No one, including the police, could figure out exactly what the group was protesting -- "I'm not sure ... Coupla different groups," one nice but puzzled officer told me - and in a few minutes, the weird protest peacefully dissolved into the mass of humanity filing up and down 16th Street.
One national politics writer recently compared national political conventions to a Super Bowl without the actual ball game. Even if that's true there's sure to be one heckuva pre-game and halftime show. And The Political Animal will be blogging and writing stories all this week from the Democratic National Convention in Denver to give you a taste of what it's like and keep you posted on the comings and goings of New Mexico's 38 delegates to the big show.
Where to begin?
Although the four-day event doesn't officially kick off until Monday, Denver as of Sunday afternoon was already crackling with political electricity. There are literally thousands of reporters crawling all over Downtown.
When the Animal checked in at the Sheraton for his media credentials, he looked at the long list of other newspapers and magazines on the alphabetized list of media outlets coming to town — and the Albuquerque Journal was one of the only newspapers on the first, long "A" page that was from the United States.
With spare time on their hands before the start of the event, many of the reporters and photogs Sunday afternoon were interviewing and taking photos of just about anything that moved. A tip for Denverites: Avoid eye contact and keep moving at all times.
Nearly every store and streetside peddler is hawking pro-Obama or pro-Democrat gear - from "Tell your mama to vote for Obama" and "Democrats make better lovers" T-shirts, to "Yes We Can!" hand towels, to pint-sized Obama pillows.
We made a quick stop in the Pepsi Center, where the event itself is to take place, and it appears the New Mexico delegates got one of the better seating locations. The delegation from Illinois, Obama's home state, will be sitting smack dab in the middle of the floor in front of the speaking podium. The delegation from Delaware, vice-presidential candidate Joe Biden's home state, will be sitting to the left of the Illinois crew, followed by the delegations from Florida and Indiana.
The New Mexico contingent will sit right behind the Indiana crowd.
That's all for now. If you have questions, comments or suggestions, feel free to contact The Political Animal at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
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