DENVER — Before any thoughts about Obama and the Democrats, I have to vent for a moment. This convention in Denver may be a celebration of American democracy, but it also reminds me of a police state, and it has caused me plenty of inconvenience.

Not since my travels to Iraq and Afghanistan have I seen such firepower on display. The place is crawling with body-armoured, black-uniformed, gun-toting agents. Some wear flak jackets with the words "Secret Service" emblazoned in big white letters.

It's always struck me as odd that if you're part of something that's supposed to be "secret," that you wouldn't want everyone to know. Nevertheless some of the armed forces here are friendly, some sneer, but they all seem engaged in a never-ending process of shutting down access routes.

The convention centre itself is barricaded behind multiple layers of high metal fencing, with few entry points. People, like me, are forced to wait more than an hour in 34 degree weather to get through a checkpoint. People, like me, don't like that.

There.

Now within this heavily fortified encampment of Democrats lurk some interesting stories. Not unplanned, unpredictable stories, as this is not just some chaotic gathering of the politically motivated, but stories that have been carefully plotted by the people who own this show. They, of course are the Obama people. And the show is like a late night TV infomercial, only with better production values and bigger celebrity guests.

So, if you think you're going to see high drama between the Clintons and the Obamas, forget it. That's all been worked out. Hillary Clinton will be cheered, and then she'll give her undying support to Obama-Biden. Bill Clinton will give an uplifting and hopefully short speech, which will leave everyone wondering why anyone thought there was bad blood between him and Obama in the first place.

And the true lion of the party, Ted Kennedy, may even show up in person, despite his cancer, to attend his tribute. The place, quite rightly, will go crazy. It all ends up with the incredible sight and sound of Obama accepting the nomination in front of 75,000 ecstatic party faithful on Thursday night.

The message to the American voter: We Democrats have got it together and are ready to move back into the White House.

It's likely that Obama will get a "convention bounce" of at least 10 points in the opinion polls.

That's the script.

But the 15,000 accredited media here will be looking for something, anything that goes off script. Many American media enterprises are still smarting from criticism that they are way too cuddly with Obama and want to show otherwise.

Besides ... these are Democrats and they hardly ever stick to the script. It's what makes them interesting.

At their convention in 1924, it took them nine days and 103 ballots to select their nominee, who was so forgettable that few remembered his name and even fewer voted for him. But it produced one of the great quotes of American political history. Humourist Will Rogers left that convention saying "I am not part of any organized political party. I'm a Democrat."

Which is why, scripted or not, these events are always interesting.