Obama's closing speech likely to shut down Denver

DENVER - Barack Obama's blowout nomination speech in Denver drew 80,000-plus attendees, many of whom suffered through a hot nightmare of endless lines and general confusion.

Reports of three-hour waits to get into Invesco Field came even as Obama was only two hours away from taking the podium in his historic acceptance speech.

"I've never seen a more disorganized way of doing things in my life, let's leave it there," said a frustrated state Sen. Terry Link, a Waukegan Democrat, after finishing a bus ride, train ride and 2-mile walk only to find an endless line stifled in the heat.

Link was staying at a hotel with delegates a few miles from the football stadium.

Link, who was working with Obama in the Senate just four years ago, was not the only Illinois delegate chaffing at the disorganization.

"I don't know who to blame because I don't know who organized it," said state Sen. John Cullerton of Chicago.

Cullerton was waiting in a slow line with state Sen. Dan Kotowski of Park Ridge and Sen. Mike Bond of Grayslake.

Attendees were required to go through two sets of security checkpoints when they eventually reached the stadium's gates. But the checkpoints were few and far between.

Few security guards were available for direction or general crowd control while signage was rare.

Meanwhile, even getting to the lines was a challenge, as security required Denver's light rail to not stop near the stadium and it shut down Colorado's busiest highwauy - I-25 - during rush hour.

The Secret Service closed down a 5.5-mile stretch of the highway at about 5:30 p.m., with plans to reopen it after the event, according to the Rocky Mountain News web site. State transportation officials said they were concerned about the impact on local commuters, especially those who might not have received information about detours, but were hoping for the best, the newspaper reported.