Celebrity Sightings

Rosemary Lappin, NewsCenter 5 Senior Producer in Denver
From your living room the Pepsi Center offerings may seem like a series of lesser speakers that eventually lead to a big name act or two. And you’d be right. For every Michelle and Hillary there are endless people at the podium whose thoughts you really don’t want to hear. And neither do some of the delegates.

When you walk the Pepsi Center at night the corridors that circle the arena are filled with restless Democrats. They wander with cell phones at ear, check Blackberrys and shop for Obama collectables. Every once and a while this ritual is interrupted and suddenly the foot traffic stops. You start to wonder what famous person is ahead that the flow of ped-democracy has been compromised?

Sometimes it’s an HPD– high- profile Democrat like Michelle Obama being escorted into a box with Joe and Jill Biden. Secret service agents secure an area for up to 5 minutes until all are safely seated. And then agents guard the entrance for the rest of the evening. But other times the person attracting a lot of attention and gumming up the Pepsi works is surprising. One night a scrum occured when Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich was in the hallway. Yes, Dennis Kucinich.

For political junkies these conventions are what the Oscars are for movie buffs. Every evening these hallways are red carpets. And the star gazers whip out their cellphones to capture a photo of a passing Jimmy Carter, Bill Richardson and journalists like Ted Koppel. Everyone once in a while a movie star does pass, but they are not swarmed the way those who have had their names on a ballot are. Electoral celebrity is a very personal choice. One woman’s George Clooney is another woman’s Joe Biden.

Rosemary Lappin/Senior Producer/Denver 2008