In September and October 1895 Irish and Thomas V. Cator, who argued in favor of free silver, toured California with a series of debates on the question. The next year Irish attended the Democratic National Convention in Chicago but repudiated the national ticket headed by Bryan, whom he called a "raw man, who has achieved nothing in public or private life to fit him for the Presidency—a man who has won his reputation delivering orations at county fairs and Populist picnics." He called the Democratic platform "a league with larceny and a covenant with murder."