David Cameron certainly lived up to the Vucurevich Foundation’s goal of giving Black Hills couples a chance to actually lay eyes upon a person most have only seen via the media. It was fun mixing with local people who had a bit of upscale polish.
Working class people weren’t in evidence, but it’s not because the ticket prices weren’t affordable. The British newspaper Express, however, had earlier had fun with ribbing Prime Minister Cameron for visiting an American frontier town where only “rock bottom” ticket prices could be commanded: “In a sign of how the mighty have fallen, the 50-year-old is delivering a £5 a head talk in Rapid City in the heart of the old Wild West.”
Of course, the article later acknowledged that the talk was subsidized. Even so, Cameron himself may have been influenced to expect a less sophisticated audience. Perhaps part of the deal for coming at all may have been an agreement that the Foundation interviewer would ask only easy-to-answer questions that mirrored the status quo—e.g. Margaret Thatcher, Her Majesty the Queen, and the like. It was entertainment, pure and simple.
Rehashing his old campaign talking points seemed little more than time-wasting for those hoping Cameron would comment more on unresolved issues today. I don’t recall one thing that was provocative or controversial.
If Cameron expected people in Rapid City to settle simply for being culturally charmed by his presence, he also thought they expected a liberal message, which was in character for him to deliver.
The Conservative Party in Britain is kind of like an NFL team. The past record and name don’t necessarily translate into performance or identity today. In fact, Cameron and Chuck Schumer seem almost like political twins, especially with their oft repeated praise for socialized medicine and multicultural diversity and immigration.
Britain’s rival Independent newspaper also played around with the Rapid City ticket price, noting that “David Cameron is earning £120,000 per hour giving speeches about Brexit.” Since resigning after losing the Brexit vote, he “is now giving paid talks about his experiences inside 10 Downing Street and recently charged £120,000 for one hour long talk, The Daily Mail reports. The sum equates to £2,000 per minute.”
All in all, people got what they paid for: a fun night out that is about feeling good, not about thinking as such. Cameron himself especially enjoyed a short interval spent horseback riding while in the Black Hills, he said.
