We laughed. We wept. We danced. We waved flags and when Michael McDonald softly crooned “America the Beautiful” I looked around and thought the same thing that Obama reminded the world later. This is our country, too.

A last minute credential delivered a nose-bleed seat at the top of Invesco Field with a straight open view to the podium. My Denver friend didn’t have a ticket and stayed home to watch so I went by myself. Maybe it’s the Rocky Mountain hospitality or maybe every convention is this way but there were no real strangers in Denver this week.

We were all on the same side and going to the same party.

On a standing room only bus that crawled two miles from downtown to the arena I met a young techie from Colorado Springs who said to follow him and got us to the front of the first security line.
Inside I sat next to a Denver woman, giddy with disbelief that she’d been given a ticket just that morning. A man came up to her on the street at the Convention Center and asked her if she wanted his ticket. She and I sat in mile-high bliss, sharing nachos and dancing in our seats. Every so often she’d shout out “Bless you, Barack.”

I kept telling myself, “Remember this.”

I met a teacher who got in line at 9 a.m. to wait for the gates to open at noon for a program that didn’t start until three hours later. She’d read two newspapers and was on her third large Coke and raring to roar. I watched a woman hooked up to an oxygen tank, slowly make her way up the steep steps, assisted by a teenager in a “Super-Obama Man” T-shirt.

A young woman in a business suit stared up into the packed stands and plaintively wailed, “Tony. Where are you?” Hundreds applauded their reunion.

More than 80,000 adoring people were so ready for Obama we started cheering for the sound technicians, long before Nancy Pelosi called the historic meeting to order. We didn’t stop cheering until the last fireworks exploded and streamers and confetti covered the stage and the Obamas kissed and the Bidens hugged.

The masses emerged from the stadium desperately seeking shuttles. A small band of us went up and over a hill to finally locate the promised buses. Back onboard I sat with a Baptist from Houston who talked about Obama being a good example to black fathers. Off the bus, I went looking for a cab to get to my friend’s when a woman asked my destination. She said she was going my way and we could take a city bus.

We got to chatting and discovered that we grew up in the same part of Connecticut at the same time. We knew the same movie theaters, the same beaches and remembered our mothers taking us shopping at the same long-gone department store.

It felt like a safe, small world, full of tender-hearted people. All hoping in the same direction.

That woman Hillary can’t help but make history. She held onto the spotlight for two nights of the Democratic National Convention. First she proclaimed genuine loyalty to the opponent she fought in a long heated campaign. And then gently and respectfully urged her supporters to do the same, to put aside their personal allegiance to her and do what was best for the country.

We can imagine that must have been painful. This was the first time, and maybe the only time she would hear “Hillary. Hillary” chanted at a national convention.

…for all women who dare to be opinionated and show off their brains and wear pantsuits.

Her speech was brilliant and sincere and you could imagine people falling in love with her all over again. And silently wishing she had ignored her highly-paid advisers and the media pit bulls throughout the campaign. Let loose, she spoke with heart and confidence and she spoke about being a woman.

I applauded when CNN commentator and political strategist James Carville drawled, “This is a really bad night for Hillary haters in the press.” He was speaking about some of his own people, of course, who can be rightfully blamed for their unequal treatment of Hillary.

It was also a bad night for the Hillary haters who haven’t liked her since she was First Lady. But also a bad night for John McCain who was part of the she’s-a-bitch pack and then came sniffing around, hoping to exploit her loss to his advantage. But as a suitor his flowers were dead and his candy stale as Hillary made it clear when she said “No way. No how. No McCain.”

At the same time, it was a really good night for those who always knew she was better than a lot of her speech writers who reined her in and pushed her into some bad blunders in the campaign. And a really good night for people who will continue to believe they will see a woman president in their time. And for all women who dare to be opinionated and show off their brains and wear pantsuits.

Her Tuesday night speech before the Democratic National Convention was a class act. And then she returned tonight to make even more history, practically stealing her own show, to go before the convention and move that the rules be suspended, that the formal state roll call end and Barack Obama be nominated by acclimation.

Now we can see that Hillary won more than she lost in running for president. She wielded her power at for at least half the convention. And then, like a wise royal, she graciously gave Obama his due.

.

One of the local headlines said, “Circus Comes to Denver.” Which seems about right, especially if you’re hanging more in the streets than in the official sites. And isn’t it curious that while we are deciding a world-changing election and recognizing a hugely dramatic moment in history, you still need side shows.

You can’t just have a bunch of dedicated, serious minded people come to town to talk about health care and war and the risk to privatizing Social Security and why their guy will do it better, you also expect street theater and entrepreneurial opportunities and celebrity sightings. And Denver delivered.

For Sale: The Hillary laughing doll who emits a pretty good rendition of the Hillary chortle made famous by Saturday Night Live and the power giggle so many pundits criticized, even though many people happen to appreciate a woman with a hearty laugh. Obama action toys. Obama as the Buddha pins. “John Stewart for President” buttons.

Doing Business: A belly dancer named Shauna offers one free lesson for registered Democrats and Obama supporters.

Curious about George: George Clooney is throwing private parties that the press reports on but apparently doesn’t attend. Oprah is rumored to rent a mansion in the Cherry Creek neighborhood. Hill and Bill are checked into the Brown Palace. So is Steven Spielberg. I’ve seen none of them, but spotted Cokie Roberts in the bar. And saw James Carville in tennis shoes and Andrea Mitchell in skinny heels at the Pepsi Center. I’m hoping for a face to face with Richard Schiff, the tortured and wonderful “Toby” in “West Wing.”

Warning: A Denver activist advises wearing scarves to protest marches, in case of tear gas. There are cops everywhere, with dogs, on horses, bikes and motorcycles. Carrying gas masks and brand new blue plastic handcuffs. Can they keep the peace? It’s hot here, 92 degrees today. It feels like the convention has been going on for a week. A guy on the street said, “I don’t know if I can keep this up for four days.” Are the police dangerously cranky? Are the protesters? Will each have to prove themselves before Friday?

Signs of Our Time: Jesus Saves. Cocaine is a civil right. Stop abortion. Stop the fascists. Stop the war. Honor our troops. Honor our troops and stop the war.

Button Envy: An Alaskan delegate sporting a rare “Joe-Bama” button says she scored it from a Cleveland delegate in the ladies room at the Sheraton.

Security: The best sunset view in town, at the top of the Hyatt, is off limits. No public access. That’s where the guy with guns walked in, was arrested, said he was on his way to safari, but had never registered at the hotel. Nancy Pelosi had to pack her bags and leave.

Fashion: Protesters wear bandanas as masks because that’s anarchist style. Delegates who get to take a bus or private car to the convention wear business suits. The rest wear as little as possible and the shoe store has a run on flip-flops. Today, Women’s Equality Day, the savviest wore white, color of the suffragists.

Freebies: Planned Parenthood gave out pink-packaged condoms that warn, “Protect yourself from John McCain.” With 10 things everyone should know about McCain. No. 9: “Said he was ’stumped’ when asked whether contraceptives help stop the spread of HIV.”

Listen for Susan’s daily reports from out on the streets at the Denver Democratic Convention during NPR coverage at 5:30pm and 6:30pm on KRCB-FM, 91.1 FM