Audio By Carbonatix
Keep Westword Free
We’re aiming to raise $20,000 by April 26. Your support ensures Westword can continue watching out for you and our community. No paywall. Always accessible. Daily online and weekly in print.
President Barack Obama came to Denver yesterday to raise funds for incumbent (by a year) Senator Michael Bennet — but he probably lost him votes with a massive, rush-hour traffic jam that was messier than a Florida hanging-chads recount.
Obama landed at Buckley shortly before 3 p.m. and went straight to the Fillmore for a “Grassroots Rally.” That snarled traffic along Colfax and in Capitol Hill and Uptown — but the worst was yet to come, as he headed downtown for a bigger-ticket fundraiser at the Sheraton.
The hotel was only a dozen blocks away, but the tangles that resulted from barricades and blocked streets extended for miles. I was caught in a standstill at Speer and 13th Avenue for a good ten minutes, during which I heard the following exchange between a driver and a panhandler.
“What’s happening here?
“The President’s come to town.”
“This is worse than watching Congress try to pass a health-care bill.” The funny thing? That line came from the panhandler.
I gave him a buck.
