Opinion: What do you do in Denver if you didn’t score a Kanye invite?
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Tonight’s big after-Joe-Biden event is a party/performance with Kanye West, but only the uber-hip (and uber-generous Democratic Party donors) can get in the door. For everyone else, the next step may be to pick up the National Journal’s Convention Daily, flip to the centerfold and see who’s partying where. Let’s see -- Gavin Newsom hosting a performance at Manifest Hope? Nah, that’s not a party. Ralph Nader and Sean Penn at a rally to let Nader debate? Definitely not a party. Democratic Governors Association at a brew pub? Yawn.
To get serious about partying, those in the know check in with the Sunlight Foundation. The best parties at the convention are also fundraisers, or else schmooze-fests hosted by corporate interests hoping the Democrats will remember their good times in Denver. Politicalpartytime.org lets you know who’s footing the bill for the shindig you’re crashing, or what you’re missing at the one you’re turned away from. The blog chronicles the financial back-stories. Really, such cynicism!
Would corporate interests really try to sway Democrats with donations? Such a thought. Here’s how Daily Kos walked through the growing affection that the Distilled Spirits Council, among others, has for Democrats.
So let’s take a look. Ah, that’s more like it. Everyone who’s going to see Kanye later may be showing up at 6 to party with Quentin Tarantino, Spike Lee -- and Congressional Quarterly. You can dance with Willie Nelson, courtesy of CH2MHill. Jennifer Lopez is hosting an event with New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (no corporate sponsor in evidence). And plenty more.
Of course, some parties are even too hip to be listed by the money watchdogs. Los Angeles City Council President Eric Garcetti, state Controller John Chiang and San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris, among others, hosted a party Tuesday night ‘to celebrate the next generation of the Democratic Party.’ I knew about it, though, so it clearly wasn’t the top echelon of hipness.
One unanswered etiquette question -- when you arrive at the after-gavel parties, do you keep your convention floor credentials around your neck?