The Authentic American

There’s been considerable disagreement between the McCain and Obama campaigns about what and who is an authentic American. Obama is derided as a cosmopolitan elite. McCain and his seven houses are dubbed as out of touch with middle America. The shining star in all of this is Palin. Her NRA, mother-of-five, pro-life, fundamentalist, global-warming-is-a-natural-thing credentials seem to be beyond reproach. Sarah Palin is, according to mainstream media, an authentic American.

For the most part, I think Republicans spend more time and energy boasting about and validating their “authentic American” credentials. What amazes me, however, is what passes for authenticity in our society. While I subscribe to a number of “inauthentic, east-coast, liberal views,” I did grow up in a small, midwest town. My father has worked in two factories that ultimately went abroad, and neither of my parents completed college. I was brought up to believe that self-sufficiency is a virtue, and to check the tag on anything you purchased to see where it was made (buying American was about protecting our interests). In many ways, I grew up in what would pass for an authentically American environment.

However, neither of my parents are members of the NRA. They don’t vote Republican; they don’t support the war in Iraq. They believe that global warming is a problem brought on by human behavior, and I know my father supports stem cell research (I’ve never asked my mother, so we’ll let that pass). Given their ideology, my parents would fail the Republican test of authenticity, so what gives?

All of these thoughts came to my wandering mind while cleaning the grout between the tiles in my shower. I use a denture brush and a diluted bleach solution to clean my grout. As I scrubbed, I began to wonder what Sarah Palin, John McCain, Barack Obama, or Joe Biden use to clean their grout. I wondered if any of them have cleaned their own tub in the last 20 years. I wondered if being authentic had more to do with how you live your life than how you want others to live theirs.

Authenticity you don't choose.

It seems to me that politicians who claim to be authentic through their ideology are disingenous. Believing that every American should be able to own a gun is mostly irrelevant when attempting to relate to the average American. The authenticity of my childhood doesn’t stem from the political views of my parents. It comes from the real-life struggles they faced when my father watched another job go to Mexico, when they had to worry about paying for an unexpected car repair, or when they chose to sacrifice their own goals to provide a college education for my sister and me. I’d wager that a farmer in Kansas could identify with their lives a great deal more than Sarah Palin’s.

At the heart of it, there’s something offensive about the way the ruling elite attempt to validate themselves by donning our victories and tribulations like costumes. And when you think about it, there’s something sordid about the fact that while you and I are dreaming of a better life and a way to improve our situations, they take great comfort in the image of small, authentic Americans who will always be worried about paying the next electric bill. That’s appealing to them. It must make a life of affluence feel more authentic when you couple it with musings about the virtue of the poor.

So the next time you meet someone who argues for their own authenticity, I suggest you ask them what they use to clean their grout.

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