Billy Pitt, the 77-year-old lifelong Tennessee Democrat who came to Denver with the hope of somehow getting a ticket to hear Barack Obama speak at Invesco Field at Mile High, achieved his dream.
“It was the experience of a lifetime,” said his daughter, Mindy Molina, who lives in Denver and worked for months to get her father into his first Democratic National Convention.
Her husband, Ruben, finally landed a community credentials ticket at the last minute by going to local headquarters and making a personal plea to the people in charge.
Meanwhile, readers of The Denver Post — who’d learned last Sunday about Pitt’s efforts to get a ticket — called and e-mailed with offers.
A mother who volunteered for the Obama campaign got two tickets, and offered one to Pitt, opting to help out this stranger in need before her own son.
Local business people offered him tickets.
So did a reporter from Fox News.
“I had more help than I needed,” says Pitt. “It was unbelievable.”
Tennessee politicians got wind of the story, including former Vice President Al Gore, who immediately asked his advance man to find Pitt and get him an Invesco ticket.
Pitt, who’d already scored that gem, instead asked for a ticket into the Pepsi Center for Tuesday night, where he got to hear Hillary Clinton’s speech.
“He had a blast,” says Molina.
Pitt also got invited to the delegate breakfast for the Tennessee delegation, where he got his picture taken with his congressman and heard the Tennessee governor speak.
He dined on filet mignon for his 77th birthday on Sunday at the Capital Grille, he says, at the same time that Katie Couric was eating there at a private party.
But the highlight was the celebration at Invesco — even though he had to wait three hours in line.
“What fascinated me most was seeing the crowd react to the different speeches,” said Pitt, “and the fact that we were there.
“No doubt about it, that was historic.”
Colleen O’Connor: 303-954-1083 or coconnor@denverpost.com
