Sunday in the park with Barack Obama, in 550 words:
First the throng, whose coils snaked around Denver’s Civic Center like a giant electric cable humming on a brisk day.
These were true believers come to see and hear the Democratic presidential nominee, a man promising change. We will see whether he gets a chance to deliver it, but he has already made history.
Julie Steeler drove from Colorado Springs for the rally. This is the 20-year-old college student’s first presidential vote.
“Obama’s slogan is about changing Washington, which is really important,” Steeler said. “He’s charismatic and exciting. I think he’d make a great president.”
Tommy Flowers Jr., 37 and a Navy veteran, came too. “It’s very emotional,” he said. “This is change at its finest.”
There was Nancy Burek, 48, of Lakewood, who arrived with her husband, Dennis. “I’ve volunteered and canvassed for this campaign,” she said. “I wrote 100 postcards to people in Ohio encouraging them to vote for Obama.”
Denver police estimated 100,000 people showed up. Granted, crowd estimates can be as iffy as poll numbers. Still, the sea of ralliers stretched from Bannock Street, which fronts the City and County Building, east to the steps of the state Capitol.
Just after noon, Obama arrived.
He strode to the podium on an elevated runway. It looked like he was walking on the people’s shoulders, which in a way he has been.
“I know these are difficult times,” he told the crowd. “I know folks are worried. But I believe that we can steer ourselves out of this crisis because I believe in this country. Because I believe in you. I believe in the American people.”
Placards were brandished amid chants of “O-ba-ma! O-ba-ma!”
This being 2008, people were all over their digital cameras and cellphones, texting friends with the “guess where I am?” game.
Presumably they left time to listen to the speech, which was divided between shout-outs to local Democratic heavyweights, inspirational oratory, jabs at John McCain, and a few sharply worded particulars on issues that would toss some meat to the national press corps.
The latter arrived at the rally at the last minute, flooding from their buses like tourists at Rocky Mountain National Park. They scribbled and typed as the political elk bugled, dutifully photographed the herd, and were on their way to the next sighting.
Tanika Scott arrived at 7 a.m. with her two young daughters, standing in a raw wind that mercifully subsided by the time the rally began. Scott, 30, is an accountant in Arapahoe County. Obama impressed her all over again.
“As always, I thought his speech was dynamic,” Scott said. “It was well worth the wait. And it was great that he came here, given that Colorado is a swing state.”
Vanessa Johnson cheered throughout the rally. She arrived here from Chicago 29 years ago and works for Wells Fargo. A mix of political passion and a sense of history brought her to the rally.
“I thought he addressed all the points that needed to be addressed about the future of America,” she said. “And the magnitude of this crowd shows you people’s hunger for change. Real change.”
As Obama reminded the crowd, real change takes time. It doesn’t arrive overnight. But watershed moments in a nation’s history can.
Nine days and counting.
William Porter writes Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Reach him at wporter@denverpost.com or 303-954-1977.
