Paul Krugman cuts right to the heart of the issue. Will we be persuaded to look for 'faux authenticity', or will we look at the candidate's policy proposals and ask whose interests would the candidate serve if elected?
Appearance matters most to voters when it comes to selecting a candidate, ...until there is a crisis, which requires a candidate with substance.
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http://www.theday.com/re.aspx?re=76a390f4-fdab-4ac9-9cdf-7f88a522e28cLook Beyond The Candidates' 'authenticity' The point is that questions about a candidate shouldn't be whether he or she is 'authentic.' They should be about motives: whose interest would the candidate serve if elected?
by Paul Krugman
Rich liberals who claim they'll help America's less fortunate are phonies. Let me give you one example — a Democrat who said he'd work on behalf of workers and the poor. He even said he'd take on Big Business. But the truth is that while he was saying those things, he was living in a big house and had a pretty lavish summer home, too. His favorite recreation, sailing, was incredibly elitist. And he didn't talk like a regular guy. Clearly, this politician wasn't authentic. His name? Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
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For example, the case of FDR shows that there's nothing inauthentic, in the normal sense of the word, about calling for higher taxes on the rich while being rich yourself. If anything, it's to your credit if you advocate policies that will hurt your own financial position. But the news media seems to find it deeply disturbing that John Edwards talks about fighting poverty while living in a big house.
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Talk of authenticity, it seems, lets commentators and journalists put down politicians they don't like or praise politicians they like, with no relationship to what the politicians actually say or do. Here's a suggestion: Why not evaluate candidates' policy proposals, rather than their authenticity? And if there are reasons to doubt a candidate's sincerity, spell them out.
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The point is that questions about a candidate shouldn't be whether he or she is “authentic.” They should be about motives: whose interests would the candidate serve if elected? And think how much better shape the nation would be in if enough people had asked that question seven years ago. "
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