Beijing occupies the central stage in the world today and deservedly so. The Olympics have been outstanding and China has been a marvellous host. But Denver will have this honour come August 25, when the Democrats meet there to officially choose Barack Obama as their party's standard bearer for the office of president of the United States.
Denver, the capital of the State of Colorado, will host the National Democratic Convention from August 25-28. The choice of Denver is turning out to be a crucial and strategic political decision because Colorado is becoming a battleground state that may play a deciding role in this year's presidential race. Colorado, the Centennial State, hosted only one National Nominating Convention in 1908. For the first time in history, the presidential nominee of either party will give his acceptance speech outside the convention site, at a stadium filled with 80,000 spectators, over and above the official delegates and alternates who will choose the candidate for president.
Obama will deliver his acceptance speech at Invesco Field at Mile High, the stadium where the Denver Broncos' football team play their home games. The 6,000 delegates, representing all 50 mainland states, Puerto Rico, Guam, The Virgin Islands, The District of Columbia and party officials will be seated on the playing field. The other 80,000 guests will be seated in the stands. The lion share of the 'public tickets' will go to citizens of Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada and other battleground states who pledge to work in the remaining weeks for the election of Obama in November.
The convention is billed as a national special security event by the Department of Homeland Security. This puts extra pressure on everyone. Local law enforcement officials cross swords with the secret service and security clashes with freedom of expression. The prospect of road closures and limited access to non-delegates and non-ticket holders, raised the ire of individuals and groups who wish to make their voices heard. There have been threats of demonstrations and possible disruptions during the convention, but a federal judge, last week, allowed for a demonstration zone close to the convention centre for those wishing to have their voices heard.
Possibility
In the past few weeks, there had been rumours about the possibility of those opposed to the Iraq war attempting to disrupt the convention, as was done by the anti-Vietnam movement during the Democrats' Convention in Chicago in 1968. People inevitably were thinking about the parallels between 1968 and 2008. But the times are different. True the war in Iraq is very unpopular, but the American casualties in Vietnam were 15-20 times more than they are in Iraq today. Every young man, in 1968 was faced with the draft. Today, service in the Armed Forces is solely on a voluntary basis and anti-war sentiment is only occasionally expressed in the streets.
Moreover, Coloradans of all political affiliations seem to be ready to welcome the Democrats to Denver. They want to showcase their state to the rest of the nation and to citizens of the world, who will be watching the convention proceedings on television.
The Republicans will hold their convention in Minneapolis, Minnesota from September 1-3, to anoint John McCain as the Republican candidate for president. There does not seem to be as much excitement about the Republican National Convention as their Democrats' counterpart. Numerous elected Republican officials have indicated that they may not even attend their party's convention. Any disruption that may occur in Minneapolis, would be by anti-war, anti-Bush activist.
Supporters of Congressman Ron Paul, who ran unsuccessfully in the Republican primary for president, have also rented a large arena in the proximity of the Republican Convention site. They refuse to support McCain and intend to have their own convention to compete with the mainstream Republicans.
Regardless of what may happen in either party's convention, and irrespective of who the candidates will pick for running mates or who the keynote speakers may be, the way Americans choose their leaders is a great exercise in democracy and indicative of the power the American people have over their elected officials. This is what makes the US a constitutional republic, where the people are sovereign and where government has limited powers, delegated to it by the people. This is why Abraham Lincoln, who ended slavery called America, "a government of the people, by the people and for the people".
Sam Zakhem is a former US Ambassador to Bahrain.
