One hundred years from now, what will be said about this Democratic National Convention?
We know that today much is made about how one hundred years ago organizers shipped in a railcar of snow from the mountains for the 1908 conventioneers.
We also know many of the big names involved, including William Jennings Bryan, the Nebraska farmer and the nominee elected here in Denver, but not before he finished cutting his summer alfalfa crop.
There are other great names that we remember now, like Damon Runyon, the Colorado-born and bred journalist who would go on to Guys and Dolls fame.
Here’s another great name: Samuel Gompers. There’s a statue of him in Washington, but he’s not well known today.
He was a labor organizer who worked hard to make sure that the Democrats included support at the 1908 convention for an eight-hour workday.
(Don’t tell my family – or any of the hundreds of others working for the convention, for contractors or even volunteers – about the eight-hour day. All of us have been putting in 12 hours a day when we are lucky.
We’ve been doing that for weeks and months now to make sure this convention gets pulled off without a hitch.)
In all seriousness, I hope what is said 100 years from now is similar to what is said now about the convention in 1908: Denver put on a convention that provided a great venue for people to get the work of the day done, and at the same time we showed the world what a unique place Colorado is for combining a productive business atmosphere with a lifestyle that is as big and colorful as the Rocky Mountains.
And I hope that we are remembered for one other thing: Openness.
Our nominating process has opened up a lot over the last 100 years, but more than that, this convention is different from those even four or eight years ago in the degree to which all the activities get covered.
A century from now it will seem quaint, I’m sure, but I think it’s remarkable that so many people will be able to sit in the seats of the Pepsi Center and type impressions into their phone and readers around the world will be able to read those words instantly.
And beyond even the notion of openness in covering the events is the notion of opening up the events themselves. Take for instance the 2008 Rocky Mountain Roundtable.
We have all sorts of amazing people coming to Denver for the convention, but at past conventions those types of people were essentially cut off from the citizens in the host state.
That just wouldn’t do for Denver, and that’s why the Roundtable will be so great. For 12 bucks Coloradans can sit in a relatively intimate setting face to face with some of the remarkable names that our great grandchildren will be reading about 100 years hence.
People such as Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Author and Broadcaster Tom Brokaw, Philanthropist and CNN Founder Ted Turner, Actor and Director Ben Affleck, Author Walter Isaacson and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, to name a few.
Roundtable participants include leaders from government and industry, and include these topics: Health, Wellness and Prevention, Education, Philanthropy: A driving force for change, America’s Retirement Challenge, Transportation Infrastructure, Unconventional Women. Energy and Climate Change, Technology, Emergency Preparedness and International Relations.
You can learn more about the Roundtables by visiting
Other events such as Dialog: City, Cinemocracy Rocks! And the American Presidential Experience give citizens a chance to explore the intersection of art and politics in an environment that is likely a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity in Denver.
That’s why so many people are working so hard on these events. The US Constitution is the longest-lasting one in the world, and this process happening right here and now has deep, strong roots in what it America is, and who we all are.
That inspiring process that stretches back for hundreds of years and will stretch into the future – with lots of hard work – for hundreds of years, is happening right here and is open for viewing by all in Colorado, and around the world.
The Constitution is the framers’ legacy to us. Opening the political process, I hope, will be our legacy to future generations.
Jim Polsfut is chairman of the Rocky Mountain Roundtable. EDITOR’S NOTE: This online-only guest commentary has not been edited. Guest commentary submissions of up to 650 words may be sent to openforum@denverpost.com.
