DNC NOTEBOOK: Change happens

CHANGE HAPPENS: On the train in to the Democratic National Convention this morning, a graying Baby Boomer couple in Obama T-shirts sat down next to a young man in torn jeans and a T-shirt that read Death to Corporations. Are you going to protest downtown?, the woman asked in motherly way. Yeah, the kid said. Let me ask a question, if you don't mind, she said. Who do you intend to vote for? I mean, why protest against the Democrats? Do you plan to vote for the Republicans? I don't intend to vote, said the kid. I'm an anarchist communist. Both sides are just run by all the same corporations. Oh, our son is an anarchist communist too, the woman's husband said. Or he was, until he found that the anarchist communist he was with spent all their time fighting amongst different factions. Yeah, the kid shrugged. Do you feel like you'd have more luck changing things from within? By getting involved?, the woman said.
Nothing changes, the kid said. The day before, he and the other anarchists had been rounded up and pepper sprayed by the cops, he explained. He was now riding back in to do it all again. That was how anarchists expressed themselves, he said. "Will you help make sure we get off at the right spot?" the woman asked. When the time came, the kid pointed it out. "Thank you," the woman said. "See, you've already helped change things."

OBAMA GEAR: Since action at the Pepsi Center doesn't heat up until late this afternoon, the hot-spot right now is Denver's 16th Street Mall where conventioneers can grab a bite to eat and all the Obama gear you could possibly want. This place looks like Canal Street in New York City. You want buttons? Choose straight Obama, Barack and Michelle, or a stylish, $45 OBAMA spelled out in rhinestones. You want T-shirts? Decide if you want an official campaign Obama in Bluestate Blue or a Ghetto-fabulous XXXL shirt in black and silver that says Barack Star. But the big thing right now is the Obama action figure. The $15, 6-inch figure is being sold at the west end of 16th Street by creator Jason Feinberg. "He sells quite well," said Feinberg, who flew out from Brooklyn with 50,000. "That's maybe a little ambitious," he said, "but already this morning I've sold about 600." Just then a woman interrupted him. "Oh, I love this," she said. "Does it do a fist bump?"

'WE HAVE TO LOOK GOOD': In the hot noon sun, two Clinton delegates, Kindra Muntz and Barbara Desmond, sat down to rest on a shady bench on the 16th Street Mall. They were both ladies of a certain age from Florida. Both had been waiting their whole lives to see a woman have a chance at the White House. But does that mean they're going to vote for McCain? "No, are you kidding me?," said Muntz, who wore a pin that read "Clinton delegate and Obama supporter". It was painful to see her lose, she said. But any thinking person can see that Obama is a better choice than the Republicans. From what they've seen on the Convention Center floor, they feel the hand-wringing the national media has done in recent days over whether Clinton delegates will unite behind Obama is largely overblown. Certainly there are a few people who won't back Obama, Desmond said. I talked to one woman this morning who said she wasn't sure he had the experience. But by and large, people are behind him. Clinton will speak tonight. She is expected to try to unite the party and throw her support behind Obama. That's what I'm waiting for, Desmond said. I'm with her until she tells me I'm free to go. Tonight, they'll be looking for her to pass the baton. I want to hear her say she's comfortable that Obama will carry out her goals on health care, women's health and ending the war. I want her to say he will be the best choice. They got up from the bench and headed toward a place selling Styrofoam campaign hats. We're seated near the front tonight, Desmond said. We have to look good.

'TENT STATE': A collection of activist organizations set up a "Tent State" at a park on the Platte River, northwest of downtown Denver, to try and educate people about issues organizers say are important to democracy."We're not rioters," said Jordan Hill, 28, of Boulder. "We're trying to do the right thing." Organized by the Alliance for a Real Democracy Coalition, Tent State (www.tentstate.org) was set up in Cuernavaca Park, well away from the commotion around the 16th Street Mall or the Pepsi Center, where the Democratic National Convention is being held."This isn't the glam and glitter work they're doing in the city," Hill said. "We're out here trying to educate people about ideas for real change."Most of those ideas dealt with anti-war sentiment - Amnesty International had a tent. But there was also a tent for free (albeit limited) health care, a tent for collecting can goods for the Food Bank of the Rockies, an organic food booth and a spot where the Resurrection City Free University held classes on topics such as the prison industrial complex.

T-SHIRT SALES BIG IN TEXAS: Talking to one T-shirt seller who has been following the Obama campaign from state to state all summer. Where do Obama T-shirts sell the best? Not where you'd think, he said. It was Texas by far. Texas was paying $25 a shirt and they couldn't get enough. In Denver, the going price is about $10, though if you go to the official Obama campaign booth, it's more like $25. Still, the line at the campaign booth is five deep. People know 100 percent of this goes to the campaign, said Ellen Abdul-Rabb, who was running the booth. That counts for a lot.