"Americans favor presidents who grew up in log cabins. Palin could build a log cabin."
And Newt Gingrich describes Mrs Palin as unaffected and unsophisticated, and talks about her spontaneity and practicality. [William Kristol: Gingrich on the Power of Authenticity via Hedgehog Blog]
Few people question the idea that authenticity is a virtue, much better than sincerity. Timothy Noah as much as concedes the point when he tries to argue that Hawai is just as authentic as Alaska. [Alaska vs Hawaii]
But in an article called Cut Kill, Dig, Drill in the latest edition of the London Review of Books, Jonathan Raban talks about Sarah Palin's "authenticity as the people's candidate", and compares her blithe disregard for the proprieties of public office with that of Charles Haughey.
It was Haughey I was thinking of in my earlier post Government for the People, when I wrote of the "rogue with ... popular support".
See also my post US Election 2008: Sincerity versus Authenticity.
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