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British politicians should learn from the American primaries: authenticity wins votes

James Forsyth

Wednesday, 16th January 2008

James Forsyth on the key quality which may determine the result of both the US Presidential election and the next general election

A Clinton restoration is no certainty, though. The Obama campaign responded well to its defeat in New Hampshire; they prevented everything from falling apart, kept the blame game out of the press and prevented the Clinton ‘inevitability narrative’ from gaining traction with a series of well-timed endorsements. If Obama can win in South Carolina a week on Saturday, it will be game on. But the dogged professionalism of the Clinton campaign means that after his New Hampshire stumble, Obama won’t ease to victory. Many now expect the Obama–Clinton fight to go on beyond 5 February, when more than 20 states vote, because neither side has a motivation to back down until the result is certain. The Clintons won’t walk away from a fight and even the most idealistic Obama supporter isn’t naive enough to believe that the Clintons will be magnanimous in victory. The Republican race is even more scrambled following Romney’s win in Michigan. If McCain wins South Carolina this Saturday, he’s likely to be the Republican nominee. If he doesn’t, the race will be wide open with Rudy Giuliani coming right back into it. One thing is certain: this show is set to run and run. The longer these two contests remain so tight, the more speculation there will be that the nominees will not be decided until the party conventions themselves. This is the dream of every political junkie. It is still unlikely, but the script for this primary season might just be that good.

Read James Forsyth’s Coverage Of The American Elections At Www.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/

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m. bassett

January 18th, 2008 1:21pm

James, totally agree with this - I think this could something which was puzzling me, why my pacifist left-wing friends admire McCain, while some of my Republican ones are smitten with Obama. Thank you for another very interesting article.

Julia Paul

January 18th, 2008 2:20pm

"..Demand for authenticity reflects the fact that voters now see through spin faster than ever before..." No they don't - they just choose between the frying pan or the fire. If they really wanted authenticity, truth without spin and were allowed full media access to his message, they'd be voting for Ron Paul (Rep.Tx) Our media decries the rigged election of Kibaki in Kenya, but we never get an in-depth investigation into what's really going on in America. Far fetched? Paranoid? Maybe - but the next President, whether frying pan or fire, has already been designated by the hidden powers that be and the masses will do as they are told. Sad.

jon livesey

January 19th, 2008 12:21am

I'm not sure I buy this. The "authenticity" thing is largely a question of definition. One claims that the voters - those oh-so virtuous folks - want authenticity, and then one concludes that the unsuccessful candidates lack it. In other words, we don't have an independent definition of authenticity. And even if we did, who would be authentic? Hilary? It is to laugh. Obama, he talks well, but is that authentic? Huckabee is an authentic Christian, as he never ceases to remind us, but is that the authenticity we mean here? I'm unconvinced that authenticity matters, because I am not sure the voters really want it, and that in turn is because I am not sure that the voters are as saintly as we like to think. I think the voters want someone who can pull the economy out of the tail spin it's in. Both engines have flamed out and the runway is fast approaching. The voters would take help from Jimmy Cagney, if they thought he could pull it off.

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