Last week, the Obama campaign announced that the Democratic candidate would accept his party’s nomination at Invesco Field at Mile High instead of the Pepsi Center. The August 28 speech — which will occur on the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech — will not be first one delivered in a huge football stadium. Eighteen years ago on July 15, 1960, John F. Kennedy gave his acceptance speech before tens of thousands of people at the Los Angeles Coliseum, next to the Democratic National Convention site in the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena.
Howard Dean and Barack Obama said moving the speech to Invesco Field at Mile High, home of the NFL’s Denver Broncos, will deviate from the mold of traditional political conventions and open up the political process to all Americans, particularly the millions of small donors that are newcomers in politics. Of course, not everyone is excited about the move. Shifting the final night of the convention away from the Pepsi Center means additional expenses for television networks covering the convention and presents some logistical and security challenges for the Host Committee. Republicans, of course, blasted the change in venue, stating that they are confident that the next president will be nominated at the Excel Energy Center in St. Paul. Only history will tell…
