You'll get no argument from the members of the Delaware delegation I spoke to here today. They're brimming with pride.
"Now, Joe is where he needs to be. He's not President, but he's the next Vice President of the United States," Sam Lanthem, President of the Delaware AFL-CIO said.
"He brings about neighborhood and commitment and that's what I think we need worldwide," Wilmington Councilwoman Stephanie Bolden (D) said.
The Delaware delegation also learned firsthand the benefits of having one of their own running for vice president. Their nosebleed seats were moved today to the front row. Obviously, where you sit at the convention is often decided by politics, the most important your state to the candidate, the better your location.
Pennsylvania, which Obama sees as a key battleground state, is prime real estate here in the Pepsi Center.
The Pepsi Center is a far cry from the old Denver Auditorium which hosted the Democratic Convention in 1908. The Democrats nominated William Jennings Bryan who was then swamped by William Howard Taft in November. The Denver Convention was the first that had female delegates, even though women didn't get the right to vote until 18 years later.
Just like Philadelphia eight years ago, Denver is overjoyed to be hosting a national political convention and with good reason as the economic impact is enormous.
50,000 people will gather here this week and the convention will bring in 160-million dollars.
There are rumblings of trouble, however, as police had their hands full with a couple of hundred protesters who were itching for a fight. We first saw protesters near the Pepsi Center, but later in the day there was a tense confrontation in the center of town. These protesters are not from any organized group, but are mostly very young adults and teenagers who say they're against all authority.
