Sunday Rowdy Sunday

I had some free time on my hands Sunday afternoon, as the students were participating in events at the College Democratic Convention, which is also currently taking place in Denver. I decided to take advantage of this time and explore a bit to see what the city has to offer. This was certainly a decision I am glad I made, because it allowed me to take in some of the protests that were occurring in the downtown area. A multitude of often rowdy protestors have already descended on the Convention, marching through the streets of Denver, demonstrating against President Bush, Senator McCain, torture, imperialism, and even Senator Obama policies and the policies of the Democratic Party. These protests ranged from humorous (a man dressed as an ostrich claiming that McCain had his head in the sand) to solemn (a man simply holding up a sign in honor of those who died during the Iraq War) to disgusting (a truck circling the city featuring a picture of an aborted fetus) to violent (an Iraq War protest which got out of hand and ultimately resulted in a scuffle with local law enforcement). These protests certainly demonstrate that the first amendment is alive and well here in Denver, which is certainly a positive thing for society. However, from a political perspective, the question revolves around what the implications of the protests will be for the Democratic Party. If these protests remain fairly calm in nature, the media will not pay much attention to them and the average American voter may not even be aware of them. However, if the more militant protest groups, such as "Recreate 68", have their way and the protests become reminiscent of what indeed happened in Chicago in 1968, the news media will focus heavily on these happenings, which will present the image of a fractured party to the American public. And in a race that appears at this point as though it will be very close throughout, the appearance of any dissension in the ranks could potentially be devastating to someone's electoral chances. It will be very interesting to follow these protests to see how this plays out through the rest of the week.

JT