Being Yourself Not All It's Cracked Up to Be

Is it weird to be inauthentic? Is being obviously inauthentic bad political strategy? Is  pandering counter-productive?

Kamala faking an “urban” accent.

Her mother is from India. Her father is from Jamaica.

Faking an accent to sound more “black” is… weird.

pic.twitter.com/QF1PmAEbLx

— Liz Wheeler (@Liz_Wheeler) July 31, 2024

Actually, not weird. Momentarily adopting the accent of one's audience is not uncommon. And as it turns out, it's not uncommon for our (soon to be) Democratic nominee for President. In November of 2021, Vice President Harris was

mocked online for appearing to mimic the accent of her host country during a charm offensive aimed at shoring up relations with America’s oldest ally.

Harris affected what many described as a French accent while on a visit to a COVID-19 lab at the Pasteur Institute in Paris on Tuesday, Fox News reported.

“One of the things people in politics and government should really take from the approach of scientists — scientists operate with a hypothesis. I love that,” the veep said

“A hypothesis. It’s well-thought-out, it’s well-planned, they start out with a hypothesis and then they test it out knowing invariably, you’re trying something for the first time, there will be glitches, there will be mistakes,” she continued.

“Then everyone gets together, no one gets beat up about it, you analyze it — what went wrong, re-evaluate, update the hypothesis and start again,” Harris added before mocking how pols always stick to “The Plan.”

At that point, she seemed to switch to a French accent while using the phase.

“In government, we campaign with ‘The Plan,’” she said. “Uppercase T, uppercase P, ‘The Plan’! And then the environment is such we’re expected to defend ‘The Plan’ even when the first time we roll it out there may be some glitches and it’s time to re-evaluate and then do it again.”

Is she using a FRENCH ACCENT?! I love this episode of Veep. https://t.co/HC0eaq0nsY

— Abigail Jackson 🇺🇸 (@abigailmarone) November 10, 2021

Kamala Harris realizes that being inauthentic does not lose elections. Appearing to be inauthentic does- but that has no relationship, except possibly an inverse one  (the latter a complicated argument for a later date). And pandering is usually actually effective.

In 1991, after President George Herbert Walker Bush raised income taxes, I asked a friend who was a big fan of the President whether he was let down when the guy who had pledged "Read my lips, no new taxes" reneged on his promise. He assured me he was not disappointed because he believed that candidate Bush made that vow because he was determined to appeal to individuals such as himself.

Pander works, as does inauthenticity. So my advice to Ms. Harris would be not to worry about being sincere. Continue to be someone other than yourself, even the "chameleon" which a chameleon labels you. It is her most likely path to the presidency.

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