Mandatory Volunteer Work to Attend Obama Convention Speech?

This is one of those "I hope against hope that I'm wrong, but I doubt it" stories.

According to a Denver TV Station (HT Michelle Malkin), many of those who are expecting tickets for Barack Obama's Invesco Field speech on the final night of the Democratic Convention in the Mile High City are being told they have to do volunteer work for the campaign -- this week -- to qualify.

Will this story get any traction outside of Denver in traditional media outlets? As I said, "I hope against hope that I'm wrong, but I doubt it."

Read the whole thing, but here are the details:

The Obama campaign has begun notifying people who got tickets for the big acceptance speech at Invesco Field the final night of the convention.

Many of those who received tickets told 7NEWS they have come with a caveat.

Those viewers said the campaign told them they must volunteer six hours for the campaign by Friday in order to get a ticket.

"I got a call that if I want the tickets I have to volunteer two shifts of three hours apiece -- for one ticket. If I want two tickets, then it's four shifts of two hours apiece," said Berenice Christensen.

..... Dozens of Obama supporters are already volunteering. They are volunteers who believe working for tickets to the biggest night of the convention is a small price to pay.

"They're trying desperately. I mean, they're almost panic-stricken, they want tickets to hear his acceptance speech," said volunteer Terry Andrews.

..... Christensen said she too is excited, but a part of her believes the process for signing up was disingenuous. "I mean they made it seem like any Coloradan could go, and now you have to work for your ticket."

A Breckenridge resident e-mail 7NEWS with a similar experience:

"My experience matches what you are hearing from other sources. Because of my work schedule and other activities going on, I did not sign up for the All Star tickets. But I was called by the campaign and told that I had to volunteer this week in order to get tickets at all. I finally agreed to one three-hour shift, but it left a bad impression for this lifelong Democrat ....."

..... The Obama campaign insists that volunteering is not a requirement to get a ticket.

The article goes on to note that the Obama campaign is now claiming that you have to volunteer to get better "all-star seating." But if you don't volunteer, it appears that "you retain your place in line for what is called a 'community credential.'"

Someone in the media ought to be on the lookout for overbooking, which I would think is a legitimate danger, given the mechanics of how things are being handled. Or maybe overbooking is a deliberate plan to make it appear as if the teeming masses can't get enough of this guy.

Can you imagine the traditional media outcry if the GOP convention and its stereotypical mean, exploitative capitalists started demanding "slave labor" as a condition for entry -- and either incompletely disclosed the requirement, or only disclosed it after the fact?

Another personal reax: Maybe this guy really does think he's "The One."

Cross-posted at BizzyBlog.com.