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I walked into the Pepsi Center and heard Ted Kennedy’s speech by complete accident. I was going in, hoping to get members of the Delaware delegation say trivia facts to the camera, but then realized I couldn’t even get close to the floor. So I stood at the top of the arena and watched the place explode with affection for Ted. I’m not really into politics at all, but it’s hard to not get caught up in the emotion when you’re right in the middle of it.

I’m here with AOL News to film pieces with Mo. At least one a day — we’ll see what we get. In the Pepsi Center itself, it seemed to be at least crowded and at worst completely gridlocked with press people. There seems to be an unwritten rule to always move — there doesn’t seem to be any place to just stand, much less sit. You shoot and move, shoot and move. Exciting, though difficult.

My access to the floor is also limited — I can only go for 30 minutes, then I have to report back to a press station and re-set my time. You have to just constantly endure people trying to kick you out of places and telling you you have to move, now.

I got to my hotel in Denver at about 1:30pm Monday — a few days after the rest of the AOL team arrived. There was a mix-up so my credentials were not waiting for me at the hotel, so I couldn’t ride the official shuttle. A convention volunteer at the hotel (they seem to be everywhere in the Denver area) drove me to a city bus stop, and I rode the bus to the middle of Denver and then walked about 8 blocks to the perimeter of the Pepsi Center where a Secret Service man told me someone would have to get me credentials or I couldn’t get it. An AOL News colleague walked it over (about 5 blocks?) and I got in.

There weren’t many protesters in the designated “protest area” when I was there. One guy with a picture of an aborted fetus was telling people they shouldn’t for Obama or McCain. And a drunk sunburned bearded guy in a denim jacket was telling people to vote for Jesus.

Mo and I shot some quick footage during Michelle Obama’s speech and then I edited it from 11:30pm-1am Denver time — which unfortunately for me was until 3am my time. I took an ice-cold shower to wake up while the file exported. Everyone here seems to be running on no sleep. The lack of healthy food must contribute to that — everyone is living on soda and fast food.

Saw Dan Rather walking around the floor — everyone was gushing over him. Saw The Daily Show people doing stuff. Normal people refer to all comedy as “skits.” I heard a few people say “Did you see the Daily Show? They’re doing a skit over at the entrance about this being a green convention! Really hilarious skit!”

This morning (day 2) I woke to realize that a shuttle I counted on using was for Reuters people only. I asked some other reporters leaving the hotel (also from Reuters — guess they didn’t want their shuttle) for a ride. They were nice enough to say yes. They were also classic snarky, sarcastic, grumbly journalists that I worshipped when I was in college and now find a bit tiring. When they found out I was from AOL they basically made fun of it for most of the ride — they’d say “You’ve got mail!” to each other and laugh. They were sparing me another city bus ride so I just sat there. Still, if you’re constantly above EVERYTHING - are you really thinking about anything? And are you really making an awesomely hilarious observation about AOL to simply repeat its annoying catchphrase? Whatever, I’m sure I’d love them if I worked with them.

I saw Tom Harkin speak — always liked him. He was running to be Democratic candidate in 1992. He still seemed more confident and charismatic than a lot of the other speakers — maybe it’s just because I already liked him. I offer opinions like this one with full disclosure that I do not know what is going on.

| Tags: aol, conventions, democratic convention, dnc, mo rocca, work