Authenticity Wins the Day, Every Time
August 8, 2019
Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren hit it out of the park during this week's first candidate debate. She was tough, clear, and passionate--just like she always is. (Her performance was so powerful that she sort of made it onto the second debate stage, as well, as one of the second night moderators quoted her in his questioning.)
Here's the thing about Elizabeth Warren: What you see is what you get. She's hotly passionate, fiercely intelligent, and unequivocal. She is never not those things. You may not like her, but you know what you're getting with her. And that is what gives people confidence in a leader.
This is how Republican Rudy Giuliani became mayor of ultra-liberal New York City more than once. He said what he thought, and you knew what he stood for. This is also how our current president woos supporters (Yes, even though he has racked up thousands of proven lies during his tenure. Authenticity isn't about being honest, exactly. It's about saying what you think and being unequivocally who you are.)
And so it will be hard for a highly practiced or polished or obviously political presidential contender to make it to the finish line in this cycle. Senator Kamala Harris was lauded after the presidential debate a few weeks ago for her forceful performance, even though pundits recognized that some of her most memorable lines were prepared beforehand. This was clearly an important breakout performance for Senator Harris, but that sort of script-following isn't going to win the day.
The eventual Democratic nominee will have to go toe-to-toe with an incumbent president who is unfiltered, combative, and famously unpredictable. You can't practice for that. You simply have to know who you are and what you stand for, and then stand for it, without hesitation, moment after moment after moment. Right now, as immensely impressive and highly qualified as this field of Democratic presidential hopefuls is, only Warren has shown that she is capable of winning a battle like that.