Face the State

Denver's Brown Palace Hotel raised a gigantic American flag Thursday to honor the nation's birthday. But the festivities at the historic landmark aren't without a touch of modern politics: The hotel will temporarily rename its presidential suite after Democrat candidate Barack Obama for the August Convention.

The oversize flag has not hung at the hotel since July 4, 1960 when it replaced one from 1944 that only 48 stars, say hotel PR Manager Shannon Dexheimer. She says the hotel historian brought the flag out of archival storage for the Democratic National Convention at the request of management. The Brown Palace was the host hotel for the last Democratic convention held in Denver a hundred years ago in 1908. The hotel is also making other changes for the convention most notably temporarily switching the name of the Dwight D. Eisenhower presidential suite to the Barack Obama suite. However, Obama will not be staying at the Brown during the convention. Every U.S. President since Teddy Roosevelt has stayed at the Brown Palace when visiting the Mile High City.