Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper said today that the images from this week’s Democratic National Convention, with its Rocky Mountain backdrop, will likely be “forever etched into our nation’s collective memory.”
“The independent-minded, pro-business, pro-environment, collaborative spirit of the West represents the future of American politics,” said the mayor, his voice hoarse and occasionally cracking into the microphone on the convention stage. “That future starts now in Denver … and that future starts with Barack Obama as the next president of the United States.”
Hickenlooper, who traveled the country for more than a year to help raise more than $40.6 million for the Denver host committee, welcomed delegates to Denver, calling it part of the “New West.”
“From mining towns and cattle ranches, to solar energy farms and technology empires, Denver continually evolved,” he said. “In this region that has seen so much change, we gather here to say that we, as a country, need that change.”
Delegates, many of whom still had not sat down, hardly paid much attention to Hickenlooper. Instead, they were flashing pictures of the red- and blue-lighted stage with roaming white stars and mingling on the royal blue-carpeted floor.
Still, they cheered loudly when Hickenlooper mentioned presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama. The mayor said Obama’s new ideas and leadership have “electrified this region,” appealing to “our optimism, our entrepreneurial spirit and our rugged individualism.”
“We simply cannot afford to continue down the same paths with the same tired policies and the same tired politics,” Hickenlooper said. “Sen. Obama represents the change we need _ the new ideas and leadership to transform America’s challenges into opportunities.”
The mayor also said that in the West, voters believe pro-business and pro-environment policies go “hand-in-hand.”
“Here in Denver, at the edge of the Rocky Mountains, our Mile High altitude encourages us to take the long view,” he said. “We demand collaboration and common-sense solutions.”
