Moments before heading onto the stage to host the packed Celebrating Civil Rights event at the Buell Theatre on Sunday evening, Glover reflected a bit on the historic movement for justice and equality.
“We stand on the shoulders of those who came before us and there are some mighty tall shoulders that has stood through history, through time,” he said. “We celebrate all that tonight.”
Rev. Al Sharpton arrived and was instantly swarmed by delegates eager to get a photo snapped with him. He tried to escape by taking a staircase up to a VIP area. They simply followed him up the stairs. By the time Sharpton got to the top of the stairs, he had accommodated nearly everyone’s request.
Judge Joe Mathis, who dispenses legal judgements on TV, said he was at the event and in Denver “to celebrate the victory that we anticipate for the Democratics this November and the historic nature of this victory.”
Kennedy one with Red Rocks
Bobby Kennedy Jr. was in top form on Sunday night at the Green Rocks concert at Red Rocks Amphitheatre. The environmental advocate was one of the final speakers on one of the biggest bills of the convention. Sheryl Crow and Dave Matthews played sets.
Other speakers included Mayor John Hickenlooper, Gov. Bill Owens and U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar, and there also were welcoming videos from Will Ferrell, the Blue Man Group and Ben Harper.
After welcoming the crowd to “the finest concert amphitheater in the world,” Kennedy talked about Red Rocks’ roots as a Works Project Administration undertaking under the guidance of President Roosevelt.
“That was when we had a government in this country that was confident and idealistic,” Kennedy told the crowd at the not-quite-sold-out amphitheater. “And that’s the kind of government Barack Obama is going to bring back.” — Ricardo Baca
Biden’s pork plan
As Sen. Joe Biden chatted with the lunchtime crowd at Boney’s BBQ in Writer Square, local police cleared an escape route. With their bikes.
“We made a green path here, with our bikes, because it’s Biden,” said one cop on wheels. Biden (or an assistant) bought five pulled pork sandwiches and one lemonade. The three turkey legs someone on his staff had reserved went unordered, said Boney’s owner Trina Lynch. The senator’s wife, Jill, said she hadn’t tasted the barbecue yet, just as a secret service agent moved her along.
“We got it to go,” said the earpieced, sunglassed guard. “To go.” — Kris Browning-Blas
Sweet souvenirs
At the Westin, where the Bidens and members of the Obama family have been sighted, donkey cookie cutters, DNC water bottles and lanyards were sold out as of noon Monday at the official DNC souvenir stand.
Diane Bradley of Wisconsin worked the booth, selling a blue Obama onesie to Obama college pal Cassandra Butts while campaign legal advisor Eric Holder admired the black “Yes we can/Si se puede” Obama hats.
“I’m tired,” he said, when asked if he was enjoying Denver. “I’ve done seven interviews today and have one more to go.”
Colfax celeb watching
East Colfax Avenue doesn’t often see many TV and film stars. Not outside of the Democratic National Convention, that is. On Sunday, the stretch was alive with celebs at a couple of Jesse Morreale bars and restaurants. After various dinners at Mezcal and Tambien, some actors — including Anne Hathaway (“The Princess Diaries,” “Brokeback Mountain”), Alan Cumming (“Cabaret” and “The Threepenny Opera” on Broadway), Richard Schiff (Toby Ziegler from “The West Wing”), Josh Lucas (“Poseidon,” “Sweet Home Alabama”) and others — found themselves at RockBar, which has been renamed BarackBar for the DNC.
It was a trip, seeing the glitz at RockBar, a dive bar that has always taken pleasure in appearing seedy and dank. (The bar’s around-the-clock specials: $1 shots of Mad Dog and lots of canned beer.) RockBar was trying its best to put on a show, with security detail and the top-shelf product prominently displayed at the center of the bar.
Hathaway and Cumming held court in a corner booth with friends, and they weren’t the only ones commenting on the random nature of the DJ’s music selection. (Neil Young’s “Heart of Gold” was good. Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car” was bad.) One of their friends especially liked it when the DJ threw down “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover” by Paul Simon. “Now this is a great song,” one of the gents told his group.
Morreale catered to the group, even sending a server to the table for cocktail orders. (RockBar doesn’t usually have table service, but it makes sense to have it this week.) But as much as they tried to take the dive out of the bar, they didn’t fully succeed. RockBar’s famously gross restrooms had obviously been recently repainted, perhaps to cover up graffiti, and the stench was overwhelming. After a few drinks, Hathaway, Lucas and Cumming left, leaving Schiff and a friend at the corner booth enjoying themselves. — Ricardo Baca
Williams waits his turn
Brian Williams spent 70 minutes in the security line to get into the Pepsi Center. “Security will be a subplot at this convention,” he said. “I can report some top officials are looking at it closely.”
Just back from Beijing and NBC’s Olympic coverage, Williams launched into the convention with no sign of jet lag.
“Better living through chemicals,” he said, holding up two cans of Red Bull. — Joanne Ostrow
Brazile’s podium moment
Donna Brazile, campaign manager of Al Gore’s 2000 presidential campaign, was the first African-American woman to manage a presidential campaign. She’s also a frequent political commentator on CNN. She was at the Unconventional Women conference today at the Buell Theater, where she told the audience:
“I never thought I would see this day. When I was a little girl growing up in the Deep South, my mother would talk to us in her bedroom at night and say we could be anything or anyone we wanted to be.” Behind her mother’s back, Brazile said, the kids doubted her words. But now Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama have changed everything. “Our parents will never have to lie to us again,” she said. — Colleen O’Connor
Woodard star power
Actors Hill Harper and Alfre Woodward lent star power to the Congressional Black Caucus Institute’s late night Red Hot Affair on Sunday night at the Cable Center on the University of Denver campus, but it was the array of legislators and dignitaries on hand that gave the event its heft. Among those attending were congressmen Bennie Thompson, Mississippi, John Conyers, Michigan, G.K. Butterfield, North Carolina, Andrew Carson, Indiana, Bobby Scott, Virginia, Gregory Meeks, New York, Emanuel Cleaver, Missouri, Arturo Davis, Georgia, and Anna Eshoo, California.
They munched on steak and mushrooms and danced to the Motown classics performed by The Jakarta Band. Rick Wade, senior adviser to Barack Obama, was working the room, and Omarosa Manigualt Stallworth of TV’s “Apprentice” fame was talking up her book that comes out next month. It’s a self-help guide for women, she says. She also said she was looking forward to attending 23 events during the DNC.
“This is my fifth convention,” she said. “I started campaigning when I was 11 years old, distributing leaflets for Jesse Jackson.” — Suzanne Brown
Briefly
Turns out one of Denver’s favorite party bands, The Jakarta Band, is bipartisan. The nine-piece group, whose music ranges from old-school funk and disco to R&B and Big Band, has several gigs lined up at both the Democratic National Convention and the Republican National Convention. …
Wilbur Colom, a member of the Obama for America National Finance Committee, lunching Monday at the Rialto Cafe on the 16th Street Mall, gushed about how friendly and helpful Denverites are. “We’re here celebrating the Obama nomination, and the beginning of the inauguration,” he said with bravado.
On the mall with a sign and a bullhorn: “u need to get excited about, about jesus christ. But u get excited by a man, by a mans penis.” …
Elbra Wedgeworth, president of the DNC’s Denver Host Committee, believes in the power of prayer, and claims she’s elated one from Focus on the Family came true. “They wanted everyone to pray for rain, and I’m happy that their prayer came true — a week early!”
— Joanne Davidson, Doug Brown and Kris Browning-Blas