James Carville, architect of many Democratic victories, wasn't in Denver Thursday for Barack Obama's acceptance speech at the finale of the Democratic National Convention.

Carville rushed out of The Palm restaurant Wednesday, high-fiving fellow Democrats. His hasty departure was personal, not political.

He was heading home to New Orleans to remove his two daughters, Matty and Emma, as Tropical Storm Gustav bears down on the Gulf Coast.

Carville, who was in Denver as a CNN analyst, ran Bill Clinton's comeback-kid win in 1992 over incumbent President George H.W. Bush.

Carville was seen throughout downtown Denver this week on daily jogs.

PRIME TERRITORY: MSNBC scored exposure points with its Union Station location, where thousands of commuters converged for light-rail and shuttle-bus rides.

The outdoor set drew thousands during the broadcasts.

Meanwhile, the other networks settled on sites outside the Pepsi Center, which had proximity advantages for pulling in guests, but John Q. Public never got close to any of the on-air personalities because of the security ring that kept regular folks blocks away.

THE SCENE AND HEARD: Susan Eisenhower, granddaughter of former Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower, was among the early speakers at Invesco Field. Her grandmother, Mamie, grew up in Denver, and her grandfather made Denver his western White House during his presidency. President Eisenhower suffered a heart attack in Denver in September 1955 after playing 27 rounds of golf at Cherry Hills Golf Club . . .

Joe Ellis, chief operating officer of the Denver Broncos, no doubt had two good reasons why he wasn't particularly keen on having Obama's acceptance speech take place at Invesco Field at Mile High. No. 1: concern over the condition of the playing field after a paneled surface was placed over the grass. No. 2: Ellis' cousin is President George W. Bush . . .

One of the security strategies employed by the Denver police was a page out of military manuals. When undermanned, create the illusion you have more manpower. That explains why pickup trucks with a dozen armed-to-the-teeth cops hanging on the sides kept a presence on the busy 16th Street Mall, a main thoroughfare to the Pepsi Center. Denver's police force was smaller than the previous bigger-city DNC sites . . .

SIGHTINGS: Harold Ickes, the chief arm-twister and delegate hunter for Hillary Clinton, on a 16th Street shuttle bus Wednesday near Union Station, looking haggard from a long, losing campaign. He had just left the Pepsi Center, after Bill Clinton's speech. He didn't stay around for Barack Obama's appearance or Joe Biden's speech . . .

At The Palm restaurant in the Westin Hotel on Wednesday night: 2004 Presidential candidate John Kerry and his wife Teresa; and at a patio table, Washington insider Charlie Cook, editor of the Cook Political Report and a political analyst for the National Journal and CNN . . .

At Ruth's Chris Steakhouse: Fox talk-show host Sean Hannity, and at another table, comedian Chevy Chase ordering a $900 bottle of Margaux.

On Thursday, Hannity's talk show co-host, Colmes, was seen having lunch at Dixon's.

Norm Clarke, a former gossip columnist for Rocky, is the gossip columnist for the Las Vegas Review-Journal.