Vice President Dick Cheney zipped into Denver today as part of a fund-raising tour intended to boost state Republican Party coffers.
Cheney, accompanied by his wife Lynne, touched down at Denver International Airport at 3:50 p.m., about 10 minutes ahead of schedule.
The Vice President’s motorcade then made its way downtown during rush hour, where Cheney was scheduled to address a group of about 20 people at the offices of the Benson Mineral Group, which is headed at businessman and former state GOP chairman Bruce Benson.
Benson anticipated the private event would raise “hundreds of thousands” of dollars.
The vice-president’s visit brought traffic to a stop in some places as cars, buses and trains were stopped for 20 minutes around the intersections Cheney was expected to cross. RTD signs in the Broadway station and on its website said delays were expected between 4 and 7 p.m.
Cheney’s visit also forced some downtown workers to leave their buildings two hours early.
Lawyer Don Alperstein said at 3:15 p.m. employees in the Colorado State Bank Building were given 30 minutes to leave the building or be forced into an indefinite period of “lockdown” inside. He was the only one on his floor that stayed, he said.
“I have business to do, I can’t leave,” said Alperstein, who was still stuck in the building at 5:30 p.m. “This is not government business. They caused untold chaos for a fundraiser?”
Cheney’s plane left DIA at about 7:20 p.m. He has planned fund-raising stops Friday in Wyoming and Utah, according to a schedule released by his office.
