DNC 2008
The city of Denver transformed for the 2008 Democratic National Convention, Aug. 25-28, as people of all backgrounds and intentions filled the city with colorful political passion. See images here.
Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama laid out an aggressive policy plan Thursday night at Invesco Field, telling an estimated 84,000 that if elected, he will "cut taxes for 95 percent of working families," end U.S. dependence on oil from the Middle East in 10 years, and invest $150 billion in alternative energy over the next decade. "We cannot meet 21st-century challenges with 20th-century beauracracy," he said.
Jennifer Romero, of Arvada, left, and Carol Sandoval, of Denver, take in the scene Thursday afternoon at Invesco Field, where, just hours later, U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, of Illinois, accepted the Democratic nomination for president.
Protestors of numerous causes make their voices heard Thursday afternoon outside Invesco Field in Denver, where crowds thronged like ants around an anthole in anticipation of Barack Obama's acceptance of the Democratic nomination for president.
The line of people walking to Invesco Field on Thursday, to see Barack Obama accept the Democratic nomination for president, stretched far along Colfax Avenue, where protestors thronged closer to the stadium.
Delaware Senator Joe Biden wowed a packed crowd at the Pepsi Center on Wednesday night, when he accepted the Democratic nomination for vice president and, speaking of his roots in Scranton, Pa., said he is "here for the cops and firefighters," teachers and factory workers, all "the folks whose lives are the very measure of whether the American dream endures."
Delaware Senator Joe Biden focused not only on his working class upbringing Wednesday night, but also on the dangerous waters of current foreign affairs. The plotters of Sept. 11, he said, "have regrouped in the mountains between Pakistan and Afghanistan" and are plotting "new attacks" - statements that forecast tough challenges for America's next president.
Marilyn Black Elk offers protest marchers relief from the Denver heat Wednesday.
An anti-war protest march several blocks long makes its way from the Denver Coliseum to the Pepsi Center.
Ruben Israel of Los Angeles argues the morality of homosexuality with people on the 16th Street Mall on Monday afternoon. Israel was among a group referring to itself as Open Air Preachers.
Bartender Dan Cohen pours a Fat Tire at the Big Tent Denver, where bloggers and new media journalists are being catered to like never before.
Grant Bennett of Los Angeles protests the Open Air Preachers group Monday on the 16th Street Mall.
Barack Obama has become a commodity in Denver, where street vendors are selling scores of Obama merchandise including playing cards, foam fingers, T-shirts, buttons, car magnets, posters, framed portraits and more.
Norwegian Petar Keseljevic denounces homosexuality. Keseljevic and other members of Open Air Preachers argued with people on the 16th Street Mall on Monday in Denver.
Remi Sobomehin came to Denver from the San Francisco area to support Barack Obama's campaign for the presidency. Unlike most vendors hawking Obama merchandise, Sobohemin speaks knowledgeably and passionately about the Illinois Democrat, and says that Obama's celebrity status - decried in Republican advertising - is a good thing for the candidate and the country. "Our message is to make popular culture positive, so positive culture can be popular," Sobohemin said Monday outside the Colorado Convention Center. "And we think Obama is the enactment of that."
Ben Malloy of Stanford, Conn., argues with Timmy Schultheis of Open Air Preachers. The sidewalk preachers drew angry crowds with their denouncement of homosexuality on the 16th Street Mall in Denver on Monday.
A police officer on the 16th Street Mall orders people onto the sidewalks Monday in downtown Denver.
Gov. Bill Ritter speaks in front of a 130-foot wind turbine blade Tuesday outside the Denver Center for Performing Arts. Speaking to an international crowd on the second day of the Democratic National Convention, Ritter said the Danish blade manufacturing company Vestas will bring 2,500 jobs and a $700 million investment to Colorado in coming years.
U.S. Rep. Mark Udall said Tuesday that wind turbines "should be planted like trees" in Colorado. The blade he is standing in front of, in a sculpture park at the Denver Center for Performing Arts, was manufactured in Windsor. "We're starting a revolution," Udall said of Colorado's growing renewable energy industries.
Rice and beans cooks in a "solar oven" displayed by the Colorado Renewable Energy Society on Tuesday, as the summer sun cooked all of Denver during the Democratic National Convention. Jennifer Beach of the CRES said solar ovens can be made at home by lining a wooden box with unrolled soda cans.
A member of Iraq Veterans Against the War points a mock rifle on 14th Street in Denver on Tuesday. The group staged mock Iraq scenarios throughout downtown, including scouting around corners, watching for snipers and avoiding ambushes.
Iraq Veterans Against the War secure 14th Street in Denver on Tuesday. The group staged mock Iraq scenarios throughout downtown and was followed heavily by media and passerby alike. One woman screamed at the group, calling them "liars" and "dorks."
Bloggers from around the country and world turn The Big Tent on Wynkoop St. into a charged, multi-media environment. Wednesday morning, Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer spoke in the tent, hours after firing up a Pepsi Center crowd Tuesday night.
Markos Moulitsas Zuniga, founder of the Daily Kos web blog, talks with a friend Wednesday morning in The Big Tent, a multimedia extravaganza on Wynkoop Street. Daily Kos is one of the tent's hosts, along with ProgressNow.org and Alliance for Sustainable Colorado. The tent's sponsors include Google.
A demonstrator Monday pleads her case to a television reporter, connecting meat production to global warming while wearing a pig outfit on a day that approached 100 degrees in Denver, outside the Colorado Convention Center.
A demonstrator rails against Barack Obama's stance on abortion Monday, taking advantage of a crowded scene outside the Colorado Convention Center, where vendors sold Obama merchandise including T-shirts, buttons and car magnets. Other demonstrators voiced opinions about topics including meat production and health care.
The boots of a fallen soldier sit in a field in Denver's City of Cuernavaca Park on Monday morning, the first day of the 2008 Democratic National Convention. Groups supporting numerous protests and causes are setting up camp in the park, southeast of downtown.
Supporters of the Chinese Falun Dafa spiritual practice meditate Monday morning in Denver's Civic Center Park, to raise awareness about human rights violations in China. Shortly after 8:30 a.m. Monday, the group was the first to make an organized appearance in the park, expected to be a hub for protest groups and events this week.
Willie Theaker, 17, at right, and Lucy Piccochi, 23, drove to Denver from Connecticut for the DNC. Their car is behind them. The two slept Sunday night in "The Freedom Cage," the colloquial name given by convention attendees to the fenced free speech/protest area outside the Pepsi Center. Willie and Lucy said they plan to travel to Minnesota for the Republican National Convention next month, to voice their opinions about a government they do not support - and, they said, to take part in the fun, energetic convention atmosphere.
Police officers walk en masse through City of Cuernavaca Park in Denver on Monday morning. Law enforcement is making its presence felt already this week, patrolling in large groups - on foot, on horseback, on bikes, and in the occasional Humvee - throughout downtown and in areas that are expected to host protests. An officer in this group declined an interview.
Ben Schrader of Fort Collins, left, works with David Mann of Colorado Springs in an Iraq Veterans Against the War booth Monday morning in Denver's City of Cuernavaca Park. Schrader, 28, served in Iraq with the U.S. Army in 2004 and early 2005. He said the devastation he saw as a calvary scout in Baquba made him "not believe in war." Iraq Veterans Against the War has chapters across the U.S. Tuesday, Schrader said, the group is planning to stage mock Iraq War scenarios - including taking prisoners and "securing areas" - in downtown Denver.
A command center has been set up at the State Emergency Operations Center in Centennial for the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver. Two Routt County residents are part of the team.
Steamboat Springs Fire Rescue Chief Bob Struble mans the operations desk at the State Emergency Operations Center in Centennial. Struble and Routt County Emergency Management Director Chuck Vale are two of about 70 officials from across the state working at the center that was mobilized for the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver.
Two police officers discuss a contentious crowd developing on the 16th Street Mall on Monday afternoon. Law enforcement arrested several protesters Monday night in Civic Center Park, using pepper spray to disperse crowds.
