Clinton appeals to whine lovers

Mrs Clinton, who lost to Mr Trump in the 2016 US presidential election, said: "Obviously I tried to warn about him when I was running against him and yet once it was over I hoped, along with many Americans, that he would rise to the job, that he would not be as bad as I feared.

"Sadly, he's been even worse and the COVID-19 crisis really sums up the deep failures of his presidency."

It is not easy to view Mr Trump’s abrasive style as unambiguously appealing, but in my view his authenticity certainly does have some appeal. With Trump and within the limitations of appealing to a mass audience the old cliché works - what you see is what you get.

By way of contrast, when Mrs Clinton says I tried to warn about him when I was running against him, she demonstrates her lack of authenticity because at the time she thought she would win easily. She thought the polls proved it but the polls turned out to be as authentic as she is. The only time Mrs Clinton was authentic was her basket of deplorables comment.  

Mrs Clinton also reminds us of Obama’s impressively empty rhetoric and the dreadful fatuity of meaningless political speeches generally. At least we have some chance of grasping roughly what Trump is trying to do and why. It is not even worth listening to Mrs Clinton and certainly not worth analysing what she says. She is not even faintly authentic.

The problem is, huge numbers of people prefer inauthentic politics – fear of authenticity is part of US culture and ours here in the UK. For decades Hollywood has understood and exploited the inauthentic – even movies supposedly based on historical events are notoriously lacking in authenticity. Based on a true story – we know what that means. It means not authentic but let us entertain you by pretending otherwise.

Jeremy Corbyn was at least modestly authentic which is why he lost the last election so disastrously – he gave the totalitarian game away. Keir Starmer may be a far more accomplished politician than Corbyn, but is not as authentic. Starmer is not even as authentic as Boris Johnson but that isn’t saying much.

Looping back across the Atlantic to the US and Mrs Clinton, we are inevitably reminded of Joe Biden, Trump’s absurd presidential challenger. The polls say Biden is doing fine but have the polls suddenly become authentic? Whatever the polls say, don’t vote for inauthentic politics and expect an authentic result - that’s the Clinton lesson.