What I Learned in Denver

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.beyondchron.org/articles/What_I_Learned_in_Denver_6046.html

by Randy Shaw‚ Sep. 02‚ 2008

The last day of the Democratic Convention at Mile High Stadium was an extraordinary occasion that transcended politics and became almost spiritual. I have never been part of such a public event—political or not—and doubt whether an equivalent happening has ever occurred in the United States or will soon be repeated. The crowd at Mile High mirrored the nation: it was overwhelmingly working and middle-class, racially diverse, and appeared to comprise those viscerally impacted by the convention’s focus on restoring the American Dream. In the days prior to Mile High I forswore the talked-about parties and spent ten hours each day talking to hundreds of delegates, supporters and activists. I saw how artists were engaged with the Obama campaign, gained a deeper understanding of the Democratic Party’s New West revival, got a reality check on the alleged Clinton-Obama rift, and was told why Mitt Romney’s anticipated selection as running mate would really help McCain. Most of all, my experience strengthened my feeling that something very special is occurring in 2008 that will have significance far beyond November.

I had two goals upon arriving in Denver: to talk to as many people as possible about the November election and my soon to be available book, Beyond the Fields: Cesar Chavez, the UFW and the Struggle for Justice in the 21st Century. Barack Obama’s adoption of the UFW’s “Si Se Puede” (“Yes We Can”) rallying cry led me to hand out bookmarks picturing Chavez and the Democratic nominee, and gave me a hook for talking to hundreds of people about our current political situation.

The Big Picture

If those who came to Denver are representative, Barack Obama’s campaign is more deeply based in the working and middle-class than any progressive presidential campaign since Franklin Roosevelt. When you add Obama’s overwhelming support among African-Americans (95%), Latinos (70%), and young people (66%), and the fact that the Mile High crowd was at least 60% female, we are talking about the largest progressive base for a presidential candidate since Roosevelt’s last victory in 1944.

That was over sixty years ago. And it has been quite a long wait.

For many I spoke with, the crisis of declining future prospects was not simply campaign rhetoric. It was personal. Postal workers told me how they just hoped to survive another four months under Bush, and others described how they had barely gotten any raises over the past five years.

People were angry, and fed up. I got the sense that many were not career activists, but that things had finally got so bad that they felt they had to get involved.

The Mile High crowd was not the usual political suspects. While the Pepsi Center had a corporate, political insider flavor, more representative crowds attended Convention Center events, the evening big screen “watch parties” at that venue, and the final day’s extravaganza.

The democratic aspect of the Mile High event also applied to exiting the event—while delegates relying on buses were stuck for as long as two hours (which was the case for the California delegation), the bulk of the crowd leaving on foot had ready access to free light rail and were back Downtown in a little over an hour.

Artists Back the Movement

Barack Obama’s campaign is as close to a national progressive movement than anything since the New Deal. And just as grassroots artists lent their support to FDR, so have counter-cultural figures like Shepard Fairey (of Obey Giant fame) and artists in the Manifest Hope Gallery used their talents to highlight the themes of Obama’s campaign, which they identify as Hope, Change, Progress, Unity and Patriotism.


FULL story at link.