Presidential election conventions in the US set the trends for political campaigning, writes Noel Whelan
THE US DEMOCRATIC Party takes over the city of Denver, Colorado, next week for their presidential election convention. The following week the Republican Party will gather in St Paul, Minnesota. Those of us for whom elections are a favourite sport view American conventions as the Olympics of politics - a fortnight of drama-filled coverage that plays havoc with the body clock. Every four years, they set trends and records for all political campaigning - at least in the western world - for the following cycle.
After a long primary season, we know who the parties' nominees are in advance but it is worth remembering that the presidential election does not formally begin until after Labour Day on September 1st. The primaries were just the qualifiers. Now the real contest begins and with 11 weeks to go before the November poll, anything could happen.
Interestingly, as they approach the official start line a plethora of polls show the Republicans' John McCain closing the gap opened up by the Democrat Barack Obama over the summer months.
Some of the more recent polls even suggest that McCain is decisively ahead. McCain's campaign gained some traction following a series of controversial ads disparaging Obama's celebrity status and questioning whether he has the experience or ability required to lead. Many left-wing commentators hoped this negative campaigning would undermine McCain's reputation for decency, but this new, assertive approach appears to have worked for him.
The television spots enabled the Republicans to define Obama before the election proper begins and to portray him as an elitist and insubstantial politician. While it may be unfair, such a characterisation feeds the reservations many retain about the Obama candidature.
McCain slipped up this week. When asked how many homes he owns, he was unable to give a straight answer. It was revealed that he and his wife own seven houses and the Obama campaign pounced suggesting McCain is the elitist and detached from the struggle which hard-pressed ordinary Americans are enduring while squeezed in an economic and mortgage crisis.
The conventions therefore will matter more than ever in this most remarkable of presidential election years.
In 2000, I had an incredible opportunity, courtesy of international visitors' programmes, to visit both US presidential election conventions.
The Republican event, held in Philadelphia, nominated the current president George Bush, while the Democratic event, held in Los Angelus, nominated Al Gore. They were extraordinary occasions comprising political theatre on an awesome scale.
Media personnel from 120 different countries covered each convention, vastly outnumbering the official party delegates and observers.
Then, as now, the conventions were tightly choreographed but each had its iconic moment. The highlight was Bill Clinton's farewell address as president to the Democratic convention in LA. For an hour Clinton held 20,000 people in the palm of his hand. When he leaned forward and lowered his voice to a whisper for emphasis, his audience leaned in hanging on his every word. It was oratory on a level which Al Gore could never hope to match, although one suspects Barack Obama may be capable of something similar.
The most striking feature of the Republican convention was, as I suspect it will be again this year, the ostentatious relationship between the party and money.
Almost every national Republican politician was hosted at a fringe gathering of large companies from his or her state. On the convention floor there was an inner circle of seating for 500 gold-ticket delegates who earned their position close to the podium by donating at least $1 million to the Republican Party in the previous 12 months.
Fundraising is critical in US elections. It was decisive for the Republicans in that 2000 contest and again in 2004.
A new dynamic playing for Obama this year is that his campaign has managed to counter the traditional financial advantage enjoyed by the Republicans by garnering a fortune of small donations over the internet. While the Republicans' wealthy donors will soon be maxed out at their legal limits, Obama can go back to his hundreds of thousands of small donors asking for another ten or 20 bucks each.
The divergence between the party memberships gathered at each convention in 2000 was also striking.
At the Republican events, the only black or Latino faces were those which the Bush campaign strategically placed at the podium. The Republican delegates were overwhelmingly male and almost all white.
By comparison, the Democratic delegations reflected all the colours and shapes of modern America. The Democrats were almost 40 per cent female, included a large African American cohort and a sprinkling of openly gay delegates, indigenous Americans and other ethnic groups. It is unlikely that this will be any different this year and, of course, the Democrats will have the added distinction of an African American nominee.
Those who are so minded can now witness every minute of these great political spectacles thanks to the wonders of digital television and video podcasting. Let our games begin.