Jul 24, 2008 1:30 pm US/Mountain
Dean Tours Invesco To Review Site For Obama Speech
DENVER (CBS4) ―
Democratic Party Chairman Gov. Howard Dean toured Invesco Field at Mile High Thursday morning to view the site where Barack Obama will deliver his acceptance speech during the Democratic National Convention late next month.
Dean said he's reviewed drawings for the staging of the event and was "stunned" by them, The Rocky Mountain News reported. However, he also said the Obama campaign has not signed off on them yet.
Dean noted this new convention format will make the political event one for outsiders, not insiders.
Democratic National Committee Chief Executive Officer Leah Daughtry and Federico Peña accompanied Dean Thursday.
"This event is not that of Senator Barack Obama, it is for the American people and that's why the decision was made to host the evening where he accepts the nomination here," said Pena, former Denver Mayor and an Obama state campaign co-chair.
Four first-time delegates to the convention also toured the site with the Democratic Party officials.
They said more than 5,000 people will watch the speech from the field and that the stage will be positioned so that the maximum number of people can watch in the stadium's seats.
A ticket distribution system for Obama's nomination speech at Invesco Field will be announced next week, party officials said Thursday.
The Obama campaign said while details are being worked out, many tickets will likely go to supporters and volunteers who work hard for the candidate at a grass roots level.
"When they leave this convention, they will leave here, excited, energized, mobilized, and ready to go to work, to go out and do voter registration, to organize their communities, to rally people in their states," Pena said.
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