_Tess Banion, left, is one of three Lawrence delegates to the Democratic National Convention who will be blogging on LJWorld.com. Check back often to see what they’re saying._My first day (Saturday) in Denver was spent learning the lay of the land.My sister-in-law was a great tour guide. I wanted to get a feeling for the convention venues and the real walking distance from the Pepsi Center to the Colorado Convention Center and the Performing Arts Center. Maps never really tell the truth. The light rail works and got us from downtown to our hotel and back. Transportation is a big issue when you are in the south forty and want to attend the many forums, marches, and panel discussions that are available during the day for delegates and the public. Sunday – I went downtown to the Capitol steps and took part in a rally and march against the war. The group was diverse – there were the usual professional protesters. I can usually spot folks who look like they really worked at looking down and out. Their parents probably foot the bill.Then there were moms with babies, old, old, old people walking slowly and young young, young, people with shaky bravado but who seemed sincere. All races, colors, ages and hair length were represented. The only violence I encountered came when a protester that was protesting our protesting started yelling at me about my T-shirt. A simple Che portrait; you see it all the time in Lawrence. He wanted me to know who the real Che was and took special care to yell in my ear as I stopped to video tape the many signs that lined the parade route. He encouraged me to go to therapy. All this in a matter of moments.As I said earlier the police are everywhere, and lots of them. I suppose they are a reminder of what we have lost in this country.Monday – Today I’m preparing to attend my first session of the convention. The media is saying that Hillary supporters are not going to support Obama. I don’t know about that – it’s a long time till election day. But, I do know that I wanted Hillary’s named placed in nomination.It’s a matter of respect and making history. I signed a petition to make sure that happened. I remember as a young girl watching the roll call; it was exciting. In those days we weren’t so much in need of a unanimous process. Somehow we came together to elect people like Roosevelt and Kennedy. I will be proud to vote for Hillary Clinton and just as proud to take up the Obama banner once the convention voting is done.As Hillary Clinton said last week on a conference call with her delegates “This election is too important … we must get Sen. Obama elected the next president of the United States.” She wasn’t kidding.