Kenny Be says: "I am a cartoonist for Westword in Denver. I have been working on a web feature for Westword. It is part field guide and part travel guide for the upcoming 2008 Democratic National Convention to be held in Denver in August of 2008. It is a field guide to help Denver residents identify the delegates from the 56 states and territories of the US. It is part tour guide in that it helps delegates to find the Colorado bars, restaurants and day trips most like home. It is a project that allows me to make fun of/pay homage to everyone in America, while I make fun of/celebrate the city of Denver.
"I started the project in July of 2007, and have added a delegation every week since then. The final delegation of Wyoming will appear two weeks before the convention begins."
How to Recognize a Nevada Delegate:
Nevadans like to claim that their state was named for the Spanish word that means "covered in snow." This, of course, seems deliberately misleading to anyone who has visited Las Vegas during the summer (which starts in February and runs through December). In Spanish, the word nevada can also be translated as "snow job," to describe "a deception or concealment of one's real motive in an attempt to shake down tourists." The second definition is far more believable and can be supported with much evidence. For starters, 90 percent of all America's gold is mined in "The Silver State." (Alaska is the leader in the production of silver.) And then there are the alien conspiracy theories surrounding Area 51 that were created by the state tourism department, and perpetuated by the CIA, to cover up the trillions of dollars spent to buy stealthy, super-secret, hypersonic space planes to spy on imaginary enemies. When trying to identify Nevada delegates in Denver, just remember that as America's foremost deliberate misleaders, Nevadans can't help but become oxymoronic oddballs. And their deception will be further concealed by the natural split in state politics. By and large, northern Nevadans will look like college professors who are actually pro-life, and southern Nevadans will look like war veterans who are actually trade-union supporters. The all-inclusive giveaway will be that they all look slightly overdressed, as their summer wardrobes include light, solid-color sweaters needed to guard against the chill of Nevada's air-conditioned indoor climate.
