Analysis: the 2008 Authenticity Race

[babylonsister]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/04/AR2007060401064.html

Analysis: the 2008 Authenticity Race

By RON FOURNIER
The Associated Press
Monday, June 4, 2007; 4:18 PM

snip//

Any politician with a pollster knows that the public is particularly jaded toward Washington. From the Vietnam War, Watergate, Iran-contra and President Clinton's impeachment to runaway deficits, soaring health care costs and Hurricane Katrina, people have been fed a steady diet of scandal and misinformation from the federal government.

Americans are also better educated and _ thanks to the Internet _ better informed than ever, which helps them spot a phony. They want the real deal.

snip//

Bush's two biggest problems: The war in Iraq, which began as a fruitless hunt for weapons of mass destruction, and Hurricane Katrina in 2005, which exposed a wide gap between administration rhetoric and reality. Earlier this year, just four in 10 Americans consider the president honest and ethical, down from 63 percent in July 2001, according to ABC News/Washington Post polling.

In no small measure, Bush has helped usher in the era of authenticity.

"I think we're living in a post-Bush world where authenticity is going to rule the day," said Republican strategist Scott Reed, who ran Bob Dole's 1996 presidential campaign. "Everybody has had it with the whistling, don't-worry-be-happy song and is looking for some real straight talk and some authenticity. Actions have consequences."

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[applegrove]

1. Cannot come soon enough.