Denver: Dem confab is definitely in the air

With people already arriving in the Mile High City for the Democratic National Convention, which will actually start in less than a week, there is definitely something in the air.

For some people, it is excitement that Barack Obama will be nominated here and Denver will have its first national major party convention since 1908, when the Democrats met and nominated William Jennings Bryan.

For others, there is dread, as all the crowds, security and congestion will make it harder for them to get to work and tax the restaurants and other facilities they frequent on a daily basis. Most wouldn't care if it was the Democratic or the Republican convention meeting here, it is strictly a matter of convenience.

By far the biggest mess will come on Thursday of convention week, when Obama delivers his acceptance speech at Denver's Mile High Stadium to over 80,000. It is hard to believe, but they are actually going to completely shut down Interstate 25 from 6th Avenue to Interstate 70 from 5:30 to 9 p.m. for security reasons.

You have to be familiar with Colorado and Denver to catch the import of this, but Colorado is bisected from the south border to the north border by I-25, and from the east border to the west border by I-70. These are the major freeways in the state. and the only fast way to navigate central Denver. To fully close I-25 for a few hours--not just shut down a lane or two--is a major crisis for the people who actually live and work here. The surface street alternatives, many of which will be constricted too, can't begin to handle the capacity.

That's why you have the third group in the air, leaving town for a week and avoiding the whole mess. They are not just Republicans, but people who can afford it and purposely planned their vacation to coincide with the Dem confab. All the hub-bub, delays and inconvenience--you can't do anything about it or mitigate it, why not miss it?

There's anticipation in the air, all right, for the Democratic National Conventin in Denver--but among locals, it's very mixed feelings, at best.