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Brits Groan as Convention Goes American-Style

Posted Sep 27, 08 7:11 PM CDT in World 

(Newser) – England's political conventions have relied more on booze and debate than American-style showmanship, the Wall Street Journal reports. That has mean no flags, no banners, no stadium-sized crowd, and no rock & roll. Which is why some stalwarts got uppity when the Labor Party added a videoscreen and the prime minister's wife at the party's annual convention in Manchester this week.

"It's become a show," said one veteran who refused to go. "It used to be a good debate. We used to get together at 6 o'clock over a pint, but them days are gone." But it's still no competition for Obamamania. The Labor Party event, which featured Prime Minister Gordon Brown's biggest speech yet, drew a mere 15,000—far fewer than the 85,000 who stuffed the Pepsi Center to see Barack Obama at the Democratic convention.
Source: Wall Street Journal

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Some Brits prefer a pint and political chat to American-style, made-for-TV party conventions.   (AP Photo)
British Prime Minister and and Labour Party leader Gordon Brown, right, smiles with his wife Sarah, left, beneath a video screen, after he delivered his speech during the Labour party conference.   (AP Photo/Lewis Whyld/PA)
Labour party supporters applaud following British Prime Minister and Labour Party leader Gordon Brown's speech during a party conference.   (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)
A pint of beer is pulled in a pub in London, Monday, July 28, 2008.   (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
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