Iowa Votes for Politics of Authenticity

Mike Huckabee and Barack Obama have a lot in common. Of course, the winners of the respective Republican and Democratic Iowa caucuses Thursday couldn’t be more different on matters of policy. Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas, is a hard-core social conservative who is supportive of the war effort and has embraced a hard line on illegal immigration. Illinois Senator Barack Obama is pro-choice, an outspoken critic of the war in Iraq, and supports a federal role in providing health insurance anathema to a conservative like Huckabee.

Yet the both represent the same brand of politics—the politics of authenticity. To their supporters, each is viewed as speaking from the heart about the things they truly care about. Though both talk of seeking common ground and overcoming division, both speak about upholding values and causes with a high-minded idealism seldom heard in today’s debate. They promise a vision that will win converts rather than strategies that will thwart opponents.