First Biden appearance in Denver

Monday, August 25, 2008 by Dave Winer.

I was walking on 16th St in Denver at noon and saw that there were a lot more people on the street than there had been a few minutes before; all walking in the same direction, fast, reporters with TV crews. And cops, and then down Larimer we could see an entourage of black SUVs with flashing lights waiting. "Something's going on!"  

So we followed the reporters, pushed our way to the front of the crowd, and asked what's going on, they said "Joe Biden." There were members of his press pool nearby. I asked how long there had been a press pool for Biden, and was told this was the first first event, in fact it was his first public appearance since being chosen by Obama as his runninng mate.  

A huge crowd gathered -- a few minutes later there was a rush of energy and there he was. I held my camera over my head and snapped picture after picture, a few movies. I didn't get to shake his hand, but I did take in the scene. It was really hot. A lot of excitement and enthusiasm for the guy. He cracked a few jokes about how hungry he was and he was looking forward to the BBQ and walked up to the stand and ordered something. There was even a press crew inside the stand! The place was absolutely crrawling with reporters and cameras. 

After a while we found a quiet place to upload a picture and a movie, probably the first pictures of the event to make it out of Denver (assuming there wasn't any live coverage). 

It was pure luck that we happened to cross paths with Biden's entourage. If we had headed out for lunch just a few minutes earlier we wouldn't have.