We’ve driven up through the heartlands, west to the Rockies, down along the pacific coast and then east through the Southwest. Finally last week, we found ourselves at the Democratic National Convention.

The first night, I watched a small group of protesters huddle around ex-Dead Kennedies star Jello Biafra, who read them bedtime stories inside the “freedom cage,” a permitted protest area just a stone’s throw from the Pepsi Center.

Each morning we caught up with delegates to video tape their perspectives on what is and is not working about the health care system.

We saw Chuck D and Jim Hightower encourage an SEIU crowd to “fight the power” on Wednesday.

And Thursday night I had arena passes to see Obama speak at Invesco Field. I was impressed with the diversity. Sitting next to me was a middle-aged Latino guy who muttered about Obama’s girls being “hams.” In front of me were two well-dressed African-American men who said “Yessir” every time Obama made a poignant remark. Next to my friend Abby, a white 40-something man stood up and screamed “yeah!!” when Obama said we can all agree that gays should be able to visit their hospitalized partners.

The start of the RNC in St. Paul, Minnesota this week hasn’t been as smooth-sailing as last week in Denver. With the landfall of Hurricane Gustav on the Gulf Coast, more than 300 arrests of protesters and journalists on Monday, and widespread scrutiny of John McCain’s pick of Governor Palin for VP, I’m very curious to see how the rest of this week pans out.