Public relations practitioners will be - or ought to be - familiar with this concept.
Authenticity. Authentic.
As in real.
As in not fake, plastic or otherwise packaged.
As in someone or something individual voters can relate to, empathise with and thereby create some form of attachment to or relationship with, even if at a distance.
Interesting.
Authenticity is one word that cropped up in stories about the Iowa caucuses both before and after the vote.
The winners - Democrat Barack Obama and Republican Mike Huckabee - were perceived by voters as being authentic.
As the L.A. Times put it, the race for the presidency was not about policy and substance at this point but about proving that the candidate was a "regular guy":
In fact, Huckabee said, not only had he hunted varmints himself -- in addition to deer, ducks, antelopes and, now, pheasants -- but he also was an experienced varmint-eater, having downed his share of fried squirrel, biscuits and Coke as a college student.
"I figured out you could put grease in a popcorn popper and heat that thing up, and you could cook anything," he said in an interview. "So we fried squirrel."
But that's about the Republicans.
Allowing for the potential bias in some commentary, the situation in the Democrat camp is perceived slightly differently. Chicago Trib columnist Steve Chapman put it this way:
A virtue in a capitalist—being willing to do whatever is needed to satisfy the target audience—becomes a vice in the political realm, where it looks like an acute lack of principle or character. Voters in Iowa seem to prefer a candidate who appears true with them, and true to himself.
Or herself, which raises a problem for Hillary Rodham Clinton. Like Romney, she executes programmed responses with the efficiency and warmth of a Dell Inspiron desktop. But while Romney gives the sense of having no inner core, Clinton gives the sense of having an inner core that she is stoutly determined never to let us see.
She has portrayed herself as misunderstood—"the most famous person you don't know." If Americans don't know her after 16 years in the spotlight, it's not our fault. But maybe we know her all too well.
Much has been made of Obama's complexion, with good reason. For an African-American to win the opening round of a presidential campaign is truly historic, even if it doesn't lead to ultimate victory. But his appeal has more to do with skin comfort than skin color. Obama is at ease in his epidermis in a way that Clinton and Romney are not.He offers a reassuring grace and calm likewise absent in John Edwards, who pretended that finishing second in a state where he has concentrated his efforts is proof that Americans yearn for a pitchfork populist. From Edwards' speech Thursday night, you would never guess he did worse this time than when he ran in 2004, with a more genial approach.
Authenticity - or lately even currency - has become an issue for Clinton. In mid-December, during a campaign stop in Donnellson, Iowa, Clinton was asked about her religious views. Surprise! Turns out her old Sunday school teacher was in the audience. There's an Associated Press video at this yahoo link.
It's likely no accident that in the run-up to the New Hampshire primary, Clinton displayed emotion at a campaign event. Authenticity is perceived as an issue; Clinton came in third among Democratic candidates in the Iowa caucuses. If she doesn't do well in New Hampshire, her campaign is done.
Take notice of the fact this display of emotion actually made the news in the context of Hillary because thus far she hadn't shown it. The NBC newscast segments linked together in this vid also includes a comment about Clinton stating that she likes to watch "Dancing with the stars".
There's also a commentary that notes the Clinton campaign had eschewed emotion until now and that the campaign appears to have made a conscious effort to give voters an opportunity to connect with Hillary emotionally.
The Granite State primary will be interesting, at least on the Democratic side. We might see if "authenticity" can be suddenly and successfully injected as part of a campaign strategy in a way that seems decidedly counterfeit.
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