Behind the slick speeches, money talks

The autumn season of party conferences represents a tradition every bit as venerable as that of fish and chips on the pier. Brighton rock and Blackpool tram cars. I am due to attend Labour's conference later this month but having just arrived back from the Democratic convention in Denver I fear that Manchester may be something of a damp squib literally.
The forthcoming US presidential contest will be the most keenly contested in decades and probably one of the most important in living memory. As the thousands of US Democrats descended on Denver one was struck by the sense of expectation and excitement and the belief that America really is on the verge of a radical change of direction both nationally and internationally.
The surreal event of the week was queueing up at the breakfast buffet bar behind former vice president Al Gore an orange juice and cornflakes man, you will be delighted to hear.
After a triumphant opening night in which Michelle Obama gave a candid, moving and fluent speech, the baton passed on Tuesday evening to Hillary Clinton. The once presumptive nominee faced the potentially tricky task of masking her own disappointment but avoiding any accusations of disunity. She did so in true style, declaring: "I'm a proud supporter of Barack Obama."
The next evening former president Bill Clinton took to the stage and reminded people what a class act he was and is. In a speech that was fulsome in its praise for Senator Obama the former president stated that the US was in trouble on two fronts. First of all, said Clinton, the American dream is under siege at home, and secondly America's leadership in the world has been weakened. "People the world over have always been more impressed by the power of our example than by the example of our power," said Clinton to thunderous applause.
To the final night, and the main event. What was striking about Obama's speech was the manner in which he turned directly and addressed the central criticisms levelled at him. First, he had to deal with the charge that he was all style over substance. He
confronted this head-on and for the first time on the national stage he outlined detailed prescriptions for the economy, climate change, healthcare, education and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Not so much "I have a dream" as "I have a plan-.
He then, bravely in my view, took on the religious Right that has sought to paint him as a closet liberal, saying: "We may not agree on abortion, but surely we can agree on reducing the number of unwanted pregnancies in this country.
"The reality of gun ownership may be different for hunters in rural Ohio than for those plagued by gang violence in Cleveland, but don't tell me we can't uphold the Second Amendment while keeping AK-47s out of the hands of criminals.
"I know there are differences on same-sex marriage, but surely we can agree that our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters deserve to visit the person they love in the hospital and to live lives free of discrimination."
Ammerican political conventions are well anaged, slick affairs that can inspire and depress attendees in equal measure. One could not help but be inspired by the rhetoric of both Hillary and Bill Clinton and by Barack °barna himself, but seeing firsthand just how money talks in American politics was dispiriting and eye-opening.
So I am off to rainy Manchester in a few weeks time, a little wiser, a touch better informed and wondering who I will see at breakfast.
Mike Ion was Labour's prospective parliamentary candidate for Shrewsbury in 2005. He blogs at inike-ion.blogspot.com