Invesco Field plays unfamiliar role in Obama speech

Barack Obama may have chosen Denver’s Invesco Field as the place where he will accept the Democratic presidential nomination, but don’t expect the evening to resemble Monday Night Football. 

Instead of a parking lot filled with wild Denver Bronco fans grilling bratwursts on hibachis, campaign geeks can take part in phone calls to spread the word about their candidate and sift through presidential memorabilia at a traveling museum.

And one more thing – not a drop of beer will be sold inside the stadium.

{mosads}The parking lots surrounding Invesco, normally the setting for rowdy and elaborate tailgate parties before Broncos games and other high-energy events, will be closed for security reasons Thursday, according to Secret Service officials in charge of the event’s safety.

But Invesco’s gates open at 1 p.m., and Obama’s campaign is encouraging attendees to arrive several hours prior to the candidate’s evening speech, leaving them to their own devices to keep their spirits high – and their minds and bodies entertained – for the better part of the afternoon.

Lucky for them, one of the few accessible diversions will be the American Presidential Experience, a traveling museum of documents, keepsakes, knickknacks, and replicas associated with America’s first office that has set up in Invesco’s parking lot this week. 

Speech attendees who want to peruse the exhibit will see one of the original copies of the Declaration of Independence, a replica of the official Air Force One presidential plane, and a faux Oval Office constructed “down to within one inch of the same size” of the real one, said Jim Warlick, the traveling museum’s owner and executive producer.

Political pack rats can bring their memorabilia collections to the exhibit, where experts will be on hand to assess their value, said Warlick, who also runs the Political Americana store in Washington, D.C., near the White House. Warlick is planning a post-speech party in the exhibit as well, and he’s hoping to secure late-night talk show kings Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert as VIP guests.

Admission to the exhibit will be $25 for adults and $20 for children, and $100 for the post-speech party.

Of course security will be tight for the speech, and attendees can plan on waiting in long lines and stepping through metal detectors before entering Invesco, Secret Service spokesman Malcolm Wiley said. Attendees will need to show their ticket and a photo ID, he said, and they will be prohibited from bringing in a number of weapons and hazardous materials – including produce.

Security officials don’t want anyone getting “hit in the head with a rotten egg,” Wiley said.

Other banned items include: outside food and beverages; umbrellas; noisemakers; large banners; unauthorized pamphlets and handouts; folding chairs; Frisbees; and inflated balls.

Once in the stadium, speech goers can stake out their seats (which are first-come, first-served), wander the concourse – or staff a phone bank. The Obama campaign announced that it will set up stations where enthusiasts can spread the word about their candidate.

Though phone banking is usually one of the more drab aspects of campaigning, political expert and George Washington University professor Greg Lebel said speech attendees will draw on the excitement of being a part of history to make the activity fun.

It is like “calling your friend back home and saying, ‘Guess where I am’?” said Lebel, who worked on the Democratic presidential campaigns of George McGovern, Gary Hart, Al Gore and Howard Dean but is unaffiliated with any campaign in this cycle.

All that dialing will surely work up an appetite, and the stadium’s food options are one of the few things that will resemble a Broncos game.

Gael Doar, the communications director for the Invesco’s catering service, Centerplate, confirmed that the stadium’s concessions will be open for business.

That means patrons can dine on “grilled cheeses, hotdogs, Chicago dogs, angus burgers, buffalo burgers, cheesesteak sandwiches, bratwurst, buffalo bratwurst, polish sausages, gourmet burritos, tacos, nachos deluxe, chicken tenders, and French fries” as part of the stadium’s usual fare, Doar said.

Expect pre-speech entertainment, too. Singer Jennifer Hudson, a native of Obama's South Side of Chicago, is scheduled to perform the national anthem, and Stevie Wonder and Sheryl Crow are expected to entertain the crowd as well.

But bad news for those Obama fans who were hoping to witness his speech with a cold beer in hand. The stadium will not be serving any alcoholic beverages that night, Doar said.