It is not quite a year since the US Presidential election that brought Barack Obama into the White House.
Since then, the world has been treated to some spectacular rhetoric. My favourite (probably) was the Berlin speech of July last year, in which he talked of close US-European ties, a nuclear-free world and acknowledged man-made climate change. Lofty, Utopian stuff.
"As we speak, cars in Boston and factories in Beijing are melting the ice caps in the Arctic, shrinking coastlines in the Atlantic, and bringing drought to farms from Kansas to Kenya.... We must come together to save this planet..... This is the moment to give our children back their future.… This is the moment to stand as one.... This is our time.... Let us remember this history, and answer our destiny."
In April of this year, it was followed by another inspiring speech, where many of the same lofty aims were repeated, this time in Prague.
"So today, I state clearly and with conviction America's commitment to seek the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons. I'm not naive. This goal will not be reached quickly -- perhaps not in my lifetime. It will take patience and persistence. But now we, too, must ignore the voices who tell us that the world cannot change. We have to insist, 'Yes, we can.'"
While the speeches have been spell-binding, the actions have not always delivered. The Berlin speech itself was targeted at an audience at home, rather than at the 200,000 that were present, as the German media wryly observed.
But such rhetoric is pointless, indeed it can be damaging, if it is not followed up by action.
In that same speech in Prague, Obama also talked about keeping world trade free as pressures built for new trade barriers in the wake of the economic crisis. Back then he said,
"That means resisting the walls of protectionism that stand in the way of growth."
In office, though, he has repeatedly failed to live up to his own ambitions. Can Obama do it? Yes. Has he done it? No.
An excellent leader in a recent issue of the Economist details several of these failings. In September, he approved new import tariffs on Chinese goods, breaking not only the promise in Prague but also a commitment he had made to the G20 not to take protectionist measures in the face of the global recession. This follows a "nasty set of 'Buy America' provisions" that formed part of the US recession-busting package. Obama failed to act when Congress reneged on a promise to open up the US to Mexican road freight. And despite all of his talk of a better world, he has made no serious move to advance the Doha round of world trade talks nor has he provided any meaningful concession to help the Copenhagen agenda that aims to take forward the Kyoto Protocol. Where is the great leap forward?
Much of this was foreseeable before the Presidential Election. In his political career, Obama has never taken a stand on an issue of principle against his own party and some of his opinions have changed in the most cynical ways possible. The decision to renege on his promise to take federal funding for his campaign stands as a particularly damning comment on his taste for opportunism.
Like many in America and in this country, I want to believe Obama; I want the change we thought he represented. I long for the kind of "West Wing" politics that inspires and then delivers. But Obama has so far disappointed.
This week in Manchester, the Conservatives will be sharing many of their thoughts and there will be much rhetoric. We must remember, though, the importance of action if we are successful in winning the next General Election. That will be the more important measure. We need policies that people can believe in, that we are really prepared to deliver.
Britain is ready for change. But winning an election is not enough. You must do something with the power the people give you, a lesson Blair also failed to prove he had learned.
Can the Conservatives make Britain Better? Yes, we can. Now, we must.
