The Spirit of Denver

Maik Nwosu

By Maik Nwosu
For the Democratic Party, the presidential nomination contest formally ended last week at the party’s national convention in Denver, Colorado. It was quite an event, a fitting banquet of words in honour of the man, Barack Obama, who has accomplished the improbable: the pursuit of the Dream all the way from Chicago’s South Side to the White House – if he wins the presidential election on November 4. Listening to all the heady speeches at the convention was for me another confirmation of the power of words, of the power of the craft behind those words to lift us to the summit of the imagination where our world is reborn – in the image of Barack Obama and the Democratic Party. One of the best appearances at the convention, that by the ailing Senator Edward Kennedy, gave the Obama campaign the sort of spiritual linkage it apparently desires as it makes connections between Barack Obama and President John F. Kennedy. One of the best speakers at the convention, Michelle Obama, significantly humanised her husband. Through her, Obama became less of an enigma and more of a man. Some of those critical of Obama have described him as an overthinker or as a presumptuous messiah. Michelle’s narrative about her life with Obama cast the candidate in the image of a loving husband and father that many Americans can relate to.
Whichever way the specific moments of the convention, or its overall aura, are read, the interpretation is likely to be the same: the Democratic Party put on a grand show last week in a bid to give Obama a push in the presidential campaign against John McCain. And it was important that it did. Pre-convention polls indicated that John McCain had either caught up with Obama or even surpassed him – a projection that was unlikely, even unthinkable in some respects, not too long ago. While many of the people polled said they preferred the Democratic Party to the Republicans, many were increasingly unsure of Barack Obama. Obama’s choice of Joseph Biden as the vice presidential candidate has not reassured some of these doubters. While Biden brings to the campaign that which Obama lacks – years and years of political experience – his choice has also been questioned by some. Biden has been in Washington for so long, longer even than McCain, that it is rather difficult to fit him into the picture of the brand new world that the Obama campaign has become adept at painting.
Besides, the choice of Biden instead of Hillary Clinton outraged die-hard Hillary supporters who Ahad hoped, regardless of all contrary indicators, for an Obama-Clinton ticket. For Hillary herself, it is a somewhat difficult position to be in. If McCain defeats Obama in the presidential election, that would mean that she could run again for the presidency as early as 2012, at 64 years. An Obama victory will almost certainly push that possibility back to 2016, when she will be 68 years old. But she cannot be seen not to support Obama, otherwise she risks alienating the African-American community in particular – whether Obama eventually wins or not. So, Hillary has in fact been speaking up for Obama. In Denver last week, she was probably the best speaker at the convention as she resoundingly emphasised her support for Obama and asked her supporters to look beyond her and do the same. So, the Denver convention, apart from talking up the Obama constants of change and hope, was also about reconciliation and healing. “It is time to stop doubting and to start dreaming,” Michelle Obama told the convention. And there was the mention or reference to the dream in almost every speech. In some of the speeches, the metaphor of the dream was the herald and the sentinel before and after every message. To that sort of generic rhetoric, Hillary Clinton added the graceful description of herself as “a proud supporter of Barack Obama.” And she glowed with the spirit of Denver.
The choice of Denver as the convention venue seems to have been carefully made. Several speakers, especially Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr., talked about the geography of Denver – its mile-high elevation – as an apt reflection of the new spirit that Obama incarnates, of how the city and the candidate should remind American voters of the “mountaintops” that Martin Luther King Jr. dreamt about. In a sense, Denver also mirrors an aspect of the future that Obama talks about. It is about the 20th most populous city in America but it has the distinction of being America’s most educated city – with the highest percentage of high school and college graduates. Last week, the city also put on a grand show as it rose to the challenge of hosting a national convention – something that it has not done in 100 years, since 1908. The extent of construction and reconstruction work that went on in and around the city in the months prior to the convention was amazing – extending even to areas that witnessed no convention activity. In the downtown area, around the spectacular 16th Street Mall, both convention delegates and would-be rioters protesting everything from abortion rights to Guantanamo Bay, jostled for space. Last week, everyone came to Denver, or so it seemed.
In 1960, John F. Kennedy accepted the Democratic Party’s nomination at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. In 2008, Barack Obama did so at the Invesco Field at Mile High Stadium in Denver. Denver, Colorado is unlike Los Angeles, California. But there is something in both places that are relatable as symbols. In California, there is the ocean – the Pacific. In Colorado, there are the mountains – the Rockies. And for Barack Obama, the spirit of Denver is evidently that of transcendence.