Sleepless Deprived in Denver… Already

I am officially in the Mile High City, though I must say, this city seems to many miles high with bubbling Obama spirit. Or at least, that is probably what the information people walking around the Denver airport in cowboy hats would have told me. And, if any of the readers out there are avid skiers like I am, you know that these Western American, type-casted, human information stations are not usually floating around. But between these urban cowboys and the bellowing voice of Denver’s Mayor Hickenlooper welcoming delegates and travelers alike over the loudspeakers on the train, I can already come to one obvious conclusion: Denver is pulling out every known and unknown stop for this Democratic party.

My travel day went as well as should be expected. Though I did not have the fortune of sitting next to a delegate or a celebrity on the way over here (someone had Spike Lee on their flight), I did sit next to a nice lady who was on her way to the convention via Xerox and was going with marching orders to make copies of anything convention related. So for all of you interns out there: there is hope! You can use the “skill” of copying pro!

But before I even got on the flight, I staked my claim in terminal D9 scouting out potential JSAers. One girl complimented me on my shoes and, as it happened, I was sitting in the same row as another girl. Little did I know at the time that these two potentials would end up being my roommates. Who knew?

The official name of what I am doing here is the 2008 Democratic National Convention Symposium and, seeing as we are not a group of delegates, the 2008 DNC Symposium was welcomed to the Millennium hotel in Boulder CO with open arms. Don’t take that as a scoff for Boulder, though: I quickly located the closest Starbucks and Einstein Bagel. Sadly, I doubt I am going to see much more of Boulder because between our packed days in Denver and slee… oh wait… I was going to say sleeping, but seeing as it is my first night and I have to be up in about 4 hours suggests that I will not be doing much of that.

Let’s just hope that the coffee kicks in soon.

By far the highlight of the day was receiving my complete and extremely detailed schedule for the week. Now, I would share this information and give a little preview as to what I am going to be doing, but that ruins the element of suprise. But for those skeptics and believers out there who want something to chew on, we are hearing from a plethora of people including someone old, someone new, someone borrowed from Obama’s campaign and someone who is blue after losing a presidential election back during another unpopular war.

To help us navigate through the hustle and bustle of downtown Denver, JSA has taken the time to organize us into “pods.” A “Pod” is the group of kids that we walk around with and it is organized by state. Now, when I say organized by state, I mean that they are organized according to the closeness of the hotels that are delegations are staying at. Sadly, the Pennsylvania delegation does not seem to carry much pull with the hotel heirs and/or the Democratic National Convention Committee, because my pod is a bit, shall we say, assorted: Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Tennessee. So my pod is quite the bag of mixed nuts, but never fear- I met some of the Minnesotans and they are ready to rumble.

I know I said that I wasn’t going to divulge any of the headliners in our playbill, but I will say that the reason I need to wake up in what is now 3 and a half hours is because tomorrow, we have the equivalent of breakfast with the Disney Princesses in Cinderella’s Castle; we are having breakfast with delegates from our states.

But, this is not merely a photo-up with some syrup. Tomorrow, I will attempt the same feat attempted by Charlie Bucket in countless movies and books: I am going to go on a quest for a golden ticket. But this golden ticket goes around your neck, and instead of getting me into a chocolate factory to see Willy Wonka, it gets me into the Pepsi Center to see some of the greatest thinkers and orators of our time give the historical speeches which most people will have to dutifully watch on CNN.

Yes, I am talking about credentials. The delegates have them and I want them, so I will work all the charms my mother gave me to get them (in a completely platonic way of course).

But don’t fret. If at first you don’t succeed, try to smooze with them again. We have another ulterior-motive- driven breakfast on Tuesday where I will continue to work my charms, credentials or not. And if I don’t get on the floor tomorrow night, I will watch the speeches on C-SPAN just like you guys, except I will be at a watch party at the hustle-y bustle-y convention center. Now, as my eyes begin to close and my head begins to subtly turn off, I want to end by sending a little welcoming shoutout over to “Shipped to the DNC with Dan.” Since he is from Jersey, he is in a legit Pod with Hawaii and Guam, so hopefully he will be able to interject with breakfast food for thought from the Jersey delegation. But, I must say our brief meeting was quite cordial, so I would not hold my breath for a blogger summer smackdown.

So as it is almost time for me to wake up, I have resolved to try and cherish the few hours of sleep I can. But stay tuned for the next episode where we find out what features and creatures I see tomorrow and if I succeed in my quest for DNC gold.

First Day in Colorado

I woke up this morning much the same way as I did yesterday morning: to the sound of my phone, very, very early in the morning. Yesterday morning came the news of Obama’s vice-presidential pick in a predawn text message. This morning my cell phone alarm woke me up for an early trip to Newark airport. After an interesting flight full of excited Democrats headed for the Convention decked out in complete Obama regalia, I arrived in Denver Airport.

The airport is huge – there’s a separate train just to get from my terminal to baggage claim – but it’s also new, clean and well designed. Besides the obvious flood of Obama supporters crowding every walkway and jetway, there were policemen and dogs everywhere due to the elevated threat level. Every few minutes a recording would come over the loudspeaker and announce the elevated threat level. I swear, every time an election comes around, be it congressional or presidential, the threat levels go all over the place. (I wonder why.)

In baggage claim I met with the rest of my JSA group and we took a 40 minute shuttle to Boulder, Colorado where our hotel is. The hotel is nice and is full of JSA people, but I can’t wait until tomorrow when the action starts!

Dan Shipper is a junior at Princeton Day School in Princeton, NJ. He’s part of a delegation of high school students with JSA – the Junior State of America – who are attending the Democratic National Convention this week. Check back often for Dan’s on-the-ground accounts of the DNC.