Democratic Party Convention: An orgy of politics (with a few celebrities and safe sex thrown in)

Mile High Mellow?

Denver police are being pressured to respect a ballot initiative approved by city voters three years ago that essentially made it legal for residents to carry "small amounts" of marijuana. The pot promoter Mason Tvert says the city should give everyone the "option of using marijuana instead of alcohol. After all, it's alcohol not marijuana that fuels riots, violence and property damage." But dope smoking is still illegal under state laws and those are the ones the police will be following next week.

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Better than Berlin?

The pressure will be on Mr Obama when everyone is asked to decamp from the Pepsi Centre to Invesco Field on Thursday to hear him accept the nomination before a crowd of 70,000. His speech had better be good. Historians will remind him how Walter Mondale and George McGovern, two former Democrat nominees, failed at the polls after flopping badly at their conventions. But look back at the addresses given by Reagan, JFK and Carter and see how they turbo-charged them to the White House.

Celebrity Junction

Autograph- hunters need not worry about Pepsi Centre security; all the famous folk expected to flow into town will be feted in numerous outside venues, notably what has been dubbed the Starz Green Room. Set up inside a theatre across the road, this is the place where political gab-fests (sorry serious discussion panels) will go on all week with La-La Land liberals, including the actors Daryl Hannah, Rosario Dawson, Charlize Theron, Viggo Mortensen and Josh Brolin, the documentary-maker Morgan Spurlock and the hip-hop artist Will.i.am.

Sorry, you're not on the list

Attendees in Denver will be able to choose between as many as 200 evening parties, so long as they are on the guest lists, including a huge dance night tonight for gay and lesbian Democrats called Unity 08. A little less frantic might be the MySpace.com cafe tomorrow night. Most of these bashes will be smooze-fests sponsored by one corporation or another, including Citibank, AstraZeneca and Eli Lilley. The hottest tickets: a private performance by Kanye West and a night of poker with Ben Affleck.

Count the dollars

No, this kind of production does not come cheap. The Denver host committee faced the gargantuan task of raising $40m (£20m) to stage the four days of convention and they only just made it, thanks to firms such as Qwest and Coors, both based locally. And there are issues like paying for all police overtime to keep order. But the folks of Denver shouldn't fret. Everyone will be gone almost as fast at they arrived, but not before they have pumped about $160m back into the coffers of the local businesses.

Safe sex

Among all the fringe events competing for the attention of delegates and reporters next week, the Condomvention, sponsored by Rolling Stone magazine and Trojan, a major prophylactic purveyor, on Monday evening certainly stands out. Bill Maher, the HBO comedian whose twist on politics is always entertaining, will be hosting a "night of condoms, cocktails, comedy and hopefully change," according to the press blurb. There will be lots of free you-know-whats and the theme of the night is "GET IT ON".

Bloggers welcome

Four years ago, there was just a handful of bloggers at the two conventions. In Denver, the oceans of reporters with passes into the Pepsi Centre will include 200 of them. Google will also sponsor a two-storey tent with space for 500 bloggers to follow every gasp. Google geniuses will help them post their entries on YouTube.

Room at the inn?

Good luck if you are going to Denver without a hotel room. While about 50,000 people have been accredited for the convention, the real number coming to town – including protesters, grass-roots activists, and general hangers-on – may be twice as high. And there are only 42,000 hotel rooms in the city. That is good news for residents fleeing town and renting out their spaces for the week. It is a solution that many media organisations have gone for, even if some one-bedroom apartment owners are charging $6,000 for six nights.

Keynotes

Timed to coincide with primetime television, the convention will showcase one keynote speaker each night, starting on Monday with Michelle Obama, who will have the job – doubtless aided by a soupy video biog – of presenting the life story of her husband and dressing him up to be more American than apple pie. On Tuesday, we will have Hillary Clinton, who could easily have been the star of this week, and Wednesday will belong to the vice-presidential nominee. Then it is on to Thursday and Mr Obama.

Running interference

Team McCain will have to leave the stage to Obama this week, right? Wrong, the Republicans will crash this party and not just with McCain ads. An opposition army, including Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani, will arrive under the slogan: "Not Ready '08. A Mile High and an Inch Deep".

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