Tickets to Barack Obama’s big night in Denver were gobbled up just 24 hours after Democratic National Convention Committee officials revealed their ticket distribution plans.
We’re certain there will be some unhappy Democrats, but at least organizers managed to avoid the Crocktober meltdown of last fall when Colorado Rockies fans crashed the team’s website trying to order World Series tickets.
By late Thursday afternoon, Colorado’s Campaign for Change announced it had already received more than 60,000 requests and that everyone from here on out will be put on a waiting list.
There were some glitches. Almost from the start, callers couldn’t get through on the DNCC’s 888 number. But no one can manage 60,000 ticket requests without a little mayhem.
Stephanie Mueller of Colorado’s Campaign for Change said 20,000 requests came within the first six hours the phone and e-mail were open on Wednesday. More people were brought in to handle the phones, she said, and the number will continue to operate.
But now the campaign office is saying if you want to be on the waiting list, use the e-mail address or go to the nearest Campaign for Change office. (That information is at .)
We were also pleased to learn that half of the 60,000 seats available at Invesco Field at Mile High that night will be divvied up among Coloradans, a well-deserved bonus for playing host to the four-day extravaganza.
Roughly another 10,000 tickets will be dispersed to residents in the Mountain West and Southwest. The rest will be allotted to those in other states.
We’ll see how the next phase goes when the party starts calling applicants back to verify their information as part of the procedure to distribute tickets.
With less than three weeks to go, the Democrats also have not worked out the specifics on what happens when ticket holders show up at Invesco. For example, will there be an identification process at the gates? “These plans are still being worked out,” Mueller told us, “so [the evening] will run smoothly.”
While we appreciate the DNCC recognizing Coloradans by giving us first crack at this monumental event, we’ll have to wait until the end to judge the effectiveness of their ticketing process.
And speaking of judging, we agree with Wednesday’s federal court decision on Denver’s security plans for protesters. U.S. District Judge Marcia Krieger made the right ruling by saying the city can control where protesters go.
Protesters still have access to the areas where convention delegates will appear and, more importantly, will have visibility on downtown streets and before the eye of the media. Their rights are not being quelled and the public is not in peril.
