Wednesday Afternoon on 16th Street

Chris Elnicki, Cherry Creek Schools

I didn’t really plan to visit the convention zone on Wednesday evening. But after reading the blogs from students and teachers, I knew I needed to get downtown today after school. My plan was simple; take the train from Nine -Mile Station to 16^th street, walk south on 16th to the Civic Center and then walk North towards Lodo to check out the MSNBC and Fox News reporting areas. My daughter, Taylor, a senior at Cherokee Trail High School, joined me, camera in hand. Here are a few of our discoveries from 4:30 to 7:00 pm.

We meet Henry Love Vaughn a musician from Chicago. He wrote a song, Vote, Vote, Obama, Vote. You can hear the song and learn more about him at http://cdbaby.com/cd/hlvaughn .  We overheard Henry speaking with a German university student, in Denver to visit her Aunt and witness the DNC.  When asked about her impressions of Denver and the convention, our new German friend, enthusiastically stated, “Wow!”

 

Two women from Aurora, a university student from Germany, another woman from Aurora, Chris Elnicki, and musician Henry Love Vaughn.

We witnessed several protests. It was tense, but civil, in a one block area where Gay Rights and Anti Gay Rights groups had assembled. Near the Daniel’s Tower we walked right into the War Resistance Protest, which was lead by the Iraq Veteran’s Against the War. Thousands marched by us at Independence Plaza.

 

Veteran’s Against the War Resistance Movement

War Resistance Movement

We spotted these young Obama supporters providing free lemonade and taking donations for the campaign.

 

As we made our way north, towards Union Station, we categorized the various vendors we encountered. Three categories emerged. Those selling Obama memorabilia, those selling food, and those selling anti Bush materials. Nowhere did we see anything promoting local politics or Congressional elections. We thought we’d see campaigns promoting an increase of seats in the Senate and House, but none emerged. Is this coincidence, intentional, or a sign that we may as a society be over focused on the executive and less attentive to the law makers.

At the MSNBC booth we listened to Pat Buchanan (TV commentator, speech writer for Richard Nixon, and former candidate for President) discuss the impact of MLK on his life and caught a glimpse of President Jimmy Carter. There were several McCain supporters in this area working hard to get in front of the camera.

 

 

 As we stopped to eat, hundreds of cyclists pedaled by chanting, “More Bikes, Less Oil.”

 

 

 

 

We definitely got a lot out of our two hours. More tomorrow from the Convention Center and Mile High Stadium.