Unity is found in downtown Denver
Posted: Wednesday, August 27, 2008 1:30 PM by Mark Murray
From NBC's Katie Primm
DENVER -- Last night, when Hillary Clinton walked out on stage to begin her speech, only three people were leaning over from their barstools listening at the Avenue Grill here in downtown Denver. But by the time she finished, a crowd of people burst into applause.
The clientele at the Avenue Grill was a mixed bag. Some had supported Hillary from the beginning, even going out to caucus for her in February. Others had been anxiously awaiting her departure from the race so Obama could become the nominee.
But as Clinton spoke, the reactions were the same -- nodding heads, laughter, applause, and the repeated phrase “She nailed it.”
Those three diehard Clinton supporters who had been glued to the TV before she even came out admired her composure and likened her to “a laser beam when she speaks” for her contact with the audience. (However, they were not fans of the orange pantsuit and thought that was her biggest misstep.)
More people started listening in earnest when her “No way, no how, no McCain” line prompted one patron to shout out “Start attacking -- let’s go girl!”
And that’s when the Obama supporters began to wander over as well.
One woman in particular related that she had been almost ostracized from her other friends when she revealed her initial support for Obama. As a middle-aged white woman, she said many of her friends told her she was betraying her gender by not voting Hillary. But those friends have come around and are now fully supporting Obama because, as she said, “there is no other option.”
