CONVENTION BUZZ

Long Lines, Armed Guards, and Fake Passes

by Randy Barrett

Monday, Aug. 25, 2008


Barack Obama hasn't arrived yet, but there is already a clear winner at the Democratic convention in the eyes of the Denver police--Fox News. After anti-war protestors shut down access to the Pepsi Center Sunday and created hour-long lines for news media and convention staff, Fox News anchor Shepherd Smith waltzed in ahead of hundreds of people standing in the hot sun. Smith exchanged some friendly words with Denver police Lt. P.K. "Pat" Phelan, who opened the barricades for him, to howls of protest from those on line. Asked about this favoritism, Phelan smiled, offered some conflicting explanations, then pretended that he didn't recognize Smith. "I only watch CNBC, to keep track of my money," he said. Phelan wasn't available for more elaborate excuses a half hour later when Fox News anchor Brit Hume, commentator Juan Williams, and other Fox people were again waved through, this time by Secret Service personnel and police nearby. Jeff Birnbaum, a lower-profile Fox personality, watched from the line with others. "I'm staying here with you guys," he said. Of course, by then, he was at the head of the line.

Faux-Pass

Judging by the number of requests and pleas that senior Democratic convention officers have received from party big shots this week, the hottest ticket in town is the "All Access Pass." Word is, this precious ducat opens every skybox and backroom door inside the Pepsi Center. "It's credential envy," explained Democratic National Committee Executive Director Tom McMahon. Maybe the reason they're so hard to score is because they don't exist. A podium credential is probably the highest in the pecking order. But just for kicks, the convention staff made up official-looking laminated credentials emblazoned with an '08 DNC logo and the words "All Access Pass." And in finer print right above those words are these: "There is no such thing as an all access pass."

Beware the Hooligans

Are you jonesing for a lusty chorus of "No Blood for Oil" in front of the Denver offices of Halliburton? Or perhaps you'd like to picket convention delegates' hotels or the local Army recruitment center? If so, then the party crashers at Unconventional Denver are here to help! To assist protesters and rabble-rousers in what the self-proclaimed anarchist group calls "a week worth of festive and liberating actions," UD is circulating a map marking the aforementioned sites--and more symbols of "the system"--and is hosting a "convergence center" at 4301 Brighton Blvd., where you can learn the "down and dirty on the Mile High City and the coming festivities." Read all about it at www.dncdisruption08.org.

Get 'Er Done

Two self-described rednecks are on a mission to convince like-minded folk that it's safe to vote for Barack Obama without fear of losing their guns. Tony Viessman and Les Spencer said they drove 900 miles from Rolla, Missouri, to display their "Rednecks for Obama" banner, bumper stickers, T-shirts, and baseball caps in Denver this week. The fellows spent some time Sunday outside the Pepsi Center's 9th Street gate talking to reporters as they waited to be cleared through a security checkpoint. "People are voting Republican because they think the Democrats are going to take their guns away," said Viessman. "But it's not going to happen. Obama's smarter than that. Armor-piercing ammo, maybe," but not the stuff that self-respecting redneck hunters would want to use, he said.

Golden Slumbers

When the Beatles played Colorado's Red Rocks Amphitheater in 1964 (exactly 44 years ago this Tuesday), Denver's legendary Brown Palace Hotel wasn't thrilled to have the Fab Four spend a hard day's night in one of its suites. According to staff, in the weeks before the band arrived, housekeeper applications from young girls soared. Money can't buy love, but after the band departed, the hotel received bids on the plates the Beatles ate from and the sheets off their beds. It was all most unseemly. But life goes on, and the hotel management has changed its tune. Now, the "Beatle's Suite" runs upwards of $1,000 a night, four times the usual rate, according to one veteran staff member. And apparently, it's drawn some Democratic high rollers. Hotel sources are tight-lipped about just who has booked the historic suite this week, but no less a heavyweight than Bill Clinton is reported to be staying at the Palace, where he encamped during the Denver Summit of the Eight in 1997.

Moving Memento Mart

If you're in the market for a 1932 delegate floor ribbon from the Democratic convention, or a hefty metal floor pass from 1940, then you need to call a cab. Local Metro Taxi driver K.C. Ward is selling these and a number of other political mementos, which he keeps in a small box in the front seat of his car. An index card taped to the back of his headrest lists the items for sale--a number of which he got from a friend whose grandfather was a Pennsylvania delegate. The "ribbons" actually look more like medals, the kind you would see pinned to a military officer's chest. They're in decent shape, apparently no worse for wear than they might have been after the conventions so many years ago. "I've had them for seven or eight years," Ward said. "I've just been waiting for an opportunity" to sell them. If you don't hail Ward on the street, you can e-mail him at user742@aol.com. And FYI--he knows all the ways around security checkpoints and local road closures.

Mint Madness [photo in cue]

Entrepreneur Brian Schroeder has purchased 500,000 tins of mints--half depicting the GOP elephant and half bearing the Democratic donkey. But sales here in Denver have been limited because the Democratic National Committee barred Schroeder from selling the candies on the convention grounds. The reason: The tin cases are made in China. But the mints within are manufactured in the good old U.S.A. "I was very surprised," said Schroeder, who is selling the breath fresheners this week from a table on the 16th Street Mall. "I'm [politically] neutral, and I'm a veteran." But the mint man has had no such problems with GOP convention planners in Minneapolis-St. Paul. "The Republicans said come on out." Schroeder's candies are also available at 7-Eleven stores across the country, and so far GOP tins are outselling Democratic ones by 6 percent.

Easy Sell

Project Vote Smart has a new strategy for getting people to take its flyers. Wait until there's a long line to get through the security checkpoint at the Pepsi Center' 9th Street gate (when is it ever short?!). Then, offer hot and sweaty reporters and staff a drink of cool water--but only if they'll also take the group's literature. It took only 10 minutes Sunday afternoon for spokesman Brandon Horton and a colleague to drain six gallons of water. Was it easier to unload his message? "Sure seemed like it," he said with a grin. Project Vote Smart aims to provide the public with information about political candidates, including voting records and campaign finances. You can see the group's "Voter's Self-Defense System Bus" every convention day at the corner of 14th and Stout Streets, between the Convention Center and the 16th Street Mall.

Seen and Heard

Some Democratic diners at the Ritz Carlton Sunday started to chant "No spying!" when former Hewlett-Packard CEO and major McCain booster Carly Fiorina entered the room to eat ... The New York Post's Cindy Adams was one of the few notable faces in the barbecue tent at Saturday night's media party at Elitch Gardens. Gossip maven Adams was spotted carrying the spoils of a midway game--a large, pink, stuffed creature that resembled a dog-dinosaur hybrid ... Seen at Baggage Claim 12 at Denver International Airport, Donna Brazile, teasing PBS news anchor Jim Lehrer about his being in seat 30F while she flew in first class. Also on the plane, New York Times mistress of the acid pen, Maureen Dowd, and Michael Steele, chairman of GOPAC ... There will be no line waiting for Barack Obama's biggest campaign donors before the nominee's Thursday acceptance speech. The campaign has arranged for the Secret Service to meet the moneybags at the lobby of their hotels, where they will be prewanded and then put on a special bus that will pass through Invesco Field's security perimeter. "There was no way I was going to wait in line with a bunch of kids to get in to Invesco Field," said one relieved donor ...

John Maggs, James A. Barnes, Shane Harris, Bara Vaida, Marilyn Werber Serafini, Suzanne Clark, and Meredith Harman contributed to this column.

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