The Matthews are selling a commemorative DNC shirt, and say that they tried to avoid the partisan divide by selling something just to commemorate the convention, rather than a particular candidate. No luck, however – last night, after Michele Obama’s speech, Reese and Danielle were with some other vendors and report that the crowd was irritable and snide, making nasty comments about vendors being desperate. “I’m still smiling – still being friendly! But I expected they would be more friendly,” says Danielle.

The Matthews live in Longmont and are visiting the convention hoping to make a mortgage payment by selling their embroidered Polo shirts. So far they’ve made four sales. The city gave out vendor permits to many people, and most of them went to out-of-state vendors. Reese tells me that he was shocked when they went downtown to pull their permit, and found that nearly everyone getting a permit was from out-of-state. “I don’t know what it cost the city to get the DNC to come here, but I know it wasn’t cheap.” The Matthews feel that more of the revenue from the convention should stay in the state. “We were expecting a bigger turnout too, and maybe that will happen at the end of the week when Obama gives his speech. But the vendors I talk to are struggling…It should be an excellent opportunity.”

At this point in the interview, three scruffy young men walked past on the mall, holding up a banner demanding the return of Crystal Pepsi to store shelves. No word on the sincerity of their demand, but the Matthews seem like very sincere people. They plan to continue their efforts this week. Best of luck to them.