TDs head to Denver in search of some Obama magic

GOVERNMENT ministers and opposition leaders alike will be hoping to bottle some of Barack Obama’s political magic when they see him in the flesh later this month.

They will travel to the US to see political sensation Obama accept the Democratic party’s nomination as presidential candidate.

The Democrats are holding their national convention in Denver, Colorado, in the last week of August.

Transport Minister Noel Dempsey and Social Affairs Minister Mary Hanafin will travel to the conference, their offices confirmed yesterday.

Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny and Labour leader Eamon Gilmore have also confirmed that they will be in attendance.

There is a long history of Irish politicians attending US conventions and observing presidential races at first hand. Many of the recent tributes to former Government minister Séamus Brennan, who died last month, recalled the fact that, as Fianna Fáil general secretary in 1976, he travelled to observe that year’s presidential election in America and subsequently applied some of the political strategies and marketing techniques he witnessed to his party’s successful general election in 1977.

Obama is expected to deliver a “rock star-style” acceptance speech at Invesco Field, home stadium of the Denver Broncos American football team, on August 28, the last night of the convention.

Usually, the acceptance speech would take place in the venue chosen for the convention — in this case, the Pepsi Centre in Denver. But that hall holds just 19,000 people, in comparison with the 76,000 capacity at Invesco Field.

The switch underlines the huge marketing appeal of Obama. While there have been many questions raised about his relative inexperience, political observers have been stunned by the manner in which he has achieved celebrity status in such a short period of time.

The nomination is a formality, given that Mr Obama has been the accepted candidate since defeating party colleague, Senator Hillary Clinton, in the Democratic primaries. However, the nomination speech is regarded as a crucial stage in the presidential race. It is televised live on primetime in the US and, as such, offers the candidate a crucial platform to deliver his message to a massive audience.

A strong performance on acceptance night will bolster Obama’s campaign as he vies with the Republican candidate, John McCain, for the presidency. The Republican convention takes place in the first week of September.