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Obama to deliver party’s speech from 50-yard line in Denver

The Associated Press
Aspen, CO Colorado

DENVER ” Democratic National Convention officials say Barack Obama will deliver his acceptance speech to his party’s presidential nomination from the 50-yard line of the Denver Broncos’ football stadium.

Obama will be standing in a circular podium 6 1/2 feet off the ground when he makes the historic speech, with almost 6,000 delegates seated on the field.

Those were among the details of a draft plan recently released by the Democratic National Convention Committee. Obama had originally been set to deliver his speech at the 21,000-seat Pepsi Center on the convention’s final night on Aug. 28.



The Obama campaign plans to give credentials to more than 60,000 members of the public to attend the speech at Invesco Field at Mile High. The stadium seats more than 76,000 people.

Other details released about the seating arrangements show that print journalists will be seated on the south end zone, with television networks having platforms on the field next to the delegates. Control booths and stand-up areas for broadcasters will be positioned on the other side of the field in front of Obama.




Convention officials said they are still discussing staging arrangements and they have not made a final decision.

The draft plan has Obama walking to the circular podium along the sidelines on a 36-foot carpeted walkway.

Obama won’t be the first Democratic presidential candidate to deliver his acceptance speech in an open-air stadium. John F. Kennedy did it on July 15, 1960, at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. About 90,000 of the coliseum’s 100,000 seats were set aside for the public, according to news accounts at the time.