DNC Part 2: The Grand Finale

By Kera Bartlett

A warm breeze blew through Invesco Field as the sun set on August 28, stirring the tens of thousands of American flags that filled the stadium. As I looked down from the 1st tier balcony in the northwest portion of the seats, the blue carpeted acropolis-like stage stood out among the sea of delegates and media. All 87,000 of us, and the estimated 38 million watching from home, sat with bated breath, waiting for the historic acceptance speech of the politician with a father from Kenya and a mother from Kansas. 

Stepping back two days, where I last left off, I had obtained a pass for the Pepsi center to experience the first day of the convention, culminating in Michelle Obama’s speech. The next day, I attended several panels on the media and foreign policy and emailed anyone I could think of to try to obtain a pass to get into the Pepsi center (my daily struggle during the DNC). While no one seemed to have a pass, a reporter from Feature Story News Network offered to show me around the foreign media press tent. Inside this massive, bustling tent (complete with a host bar) scurried hundreds of journalists, tech crews and cameramen, all transmitting the events of the day to the world. I was amazed at the breadth and depth of the foreign coverage; some of the correspondents had been following the candidates for over a year. 

After spying on the news anchors from around the world and occasionally being roped into holding a light or microphone boom, I made my way to the State Department’s Foreign Press Center. Settling into an empty seat in the large room, I engaged everyone from the Economist to Brazilian television before we all turned our attention to the plasma screen TVs to watch the live feed of Senator Hillary Clinton’s speech. While it wasn’t as glamorous as being inside the arena, watching the foreign journalists watch Senator Clinton and discuss the implications of her address provided a visual for the international interest in the election I’d been reading about all summer. 

Wednesday brought more panels, meetings and exploration of Denver, as well as my continued quest for a ticket for the evening’s events. Luckily, one of the journalists I’d met the night before gave me a “perimeter press pass” so I could at least get back into the foreign press tent if I couldn’t find a ticket for the arena. At four pm, my housemate called to say she had two extra passes for the Pepsi Center, so my classmate and I rushed over to collect them and join the large line to get though security. I was not only excited at the opportunity to return to the Pepsi center for another night of cheering and sign waving, but the chance to see my former boss, President Bill Clinton, speak again. 

The evening’s speakers were more forceful and aggressive than the nights before. President Clinton and Senator John Kerry were especially strong, and unfortunately Senator Kerry’s speech wasn’t broadcast, even though I thought it had the strongest lines against Senator McCain. After an introduction from his son Beau, who is about to go to Iraq, Senator Biden accepted the nomination for Vice Presidential candidate and spoke through the exuberant cheers and sign waving. His touching and inspiring life story was shared with the audience before he assumed his new role as an attack dog for the Obama camp. During Senator Biden’s speech, CNN reported that Senator Obama was in the building and would make an appearance. While this was not announced to the audience, I would guess that about half the crowd, myself included, had been informed by friends and relatives through text messages. The “surprise” appearance of Senator Obama signaled the transition to Senator Obama’s portion of the DNC and the culmination of the Pepsi Center events. 

I spent the rest of the evening with the lively Irish delegation and watched Governor O’Malley of Maryland and Governor Kaine of Virginina’s rousing rendition of Irish folksongs at a local bar. Proudly sporting my green shamrock Obama pin, I traded business cards with attendees and strained to understand the thick accents above the gubernatorial band. Despite my ardent efforts, I still didn’t have a ticket for the Invesco field speech the following night. 

The next day I renewed my search for an Invesco ticket, but figured I would fall back on my press pass if necessary and just take my chances standing. The train downtown that afternoon resembled a can of sardines and I exited to find line that wound for miles towards Invesco Field. And it was only three o’clock! I began walking downtown when I miraculously received a call that I had a ticket. I rushed towards the city center and wondered if I would even make it into the stadium through such an epic line. Luckily, I passed the Pepsi Center on my way to retrieving my ticket and saw press busses lining up to transport the media. With my coveted ticket and press pass, I boarded a bus and bypassed the line, going instead to the much smaller media entrance. Daily Show correspondents teased the security line and I played along with some Dutch filmmakers as they conducted their own fake interviews. Standing in the heat, we all cringed when Tom Brokaw and Anderson Cooper bypassed the line we were baking in. I couldn’t even image how miserable the tens of thousands of people waiting in the regular line must have been. We snaked closer to the entrance and I went through my last security checkpoint of the convention. I made my way to my seat with anticipation. 

The musical guests and speakers entertained the crowd for hours, knowing we were all waiting for 8:15 and the appearance of our chosen leader. By eight, the sun had set and the lights dimmed, making the crowd go wild. A video montage of the major events in Senator Obama’s life played on the jumbotron and the crowd sat in silence. When it ended, there he was, a small figure in the distance for most of us, and the crowd roared, jumped, and waved their flags and signs. It was finally here! The speech we’d all been waiting for, for days if not months. His speech began like most of his others and wound through his story, his policies and his values with elegance and inspiration. When he described the broken politics of Washington and told the crowd that he got it, why it was hard for some people to believe in hope and change, that was a connecting moment and a twinkle of understanding shone from my eyes and so many others around me. The collectiveness of that forty-five minutes, how we all knew we were part of something much bigger than ourselves, was powerful and the memories of that feeling will stay with me always. 

The events of the Democratic National Convention were inspiring, massive and historic. How historic most likely depends on whether or not Senator Obama is successful in the fall. With the addition of Gov. Sarah Palin to the Republican ticket, the issues of race, gender, change and reform are guaranteed to be major in the next sixty days. I hope that in the coming weeks, as the election gets more intense and most likely more brutal, that we can remember the feeling so many had when they heard Senator Obama’s speech. As I heard in passing, if he can accomplish half the things he spoke about there, he’ll be one of the best presidents America has ever seen. 

As I walked out of Invesco field with thousands of others, the smoke still in the air from the celebratory fireworks, I tried to reflect on what we had all just experienced. We weren’t pushing or yelling to get out, but a state of relative calm characterized the crowd. It was almost as if we didn’t want to leave, we didn’t want the moment to fade or be over. Here’s hoping that the rest of the campaign, and the next administration, can capture some of the excitement, passion and hope for the future we all felt that night.

Kera Bartlett is a senior Diplomacy and World Affairs major. She can be reached at kbartlett@oxy.edu