Well, ain't Barack soundin' real down-home

[DeepBlueC]

Enough with droppin' the "g"s. It doesn't make you sound more "real". It makes you sound like Bush.

[Quakerfriend]

1. Thank you! I thought that was my imagination.

;)

[DeepBlueC]

5. I just didn't expect that of him

And I don't think he needs to do it.

[wyldwolf]

2. he almost forgot the name of the college

[Connie_Corleone]

4. That was a purposeful pause because he was talking

about grants and scholarships to go to colleges like....(pause for the crowd) South Carolina State University.

[Connie_Corleone]

3. Some people naturally adopt a southern accent when speaking to southerners.

I do it myself. We can't help it. It just happens.

[frogcycle]

7. I have a much worse trait

I tend to take on African-American inflections when speaking to blacks. I fight it, but it happens.

of course I also take on southern, new yawk, chicaga, you name it. I even started talking like an Aussie when I was in Sydney. But those are all just funny. the ethnic-thing could backfire on me some day.

the thing is, typically the people you are channeling don't know it. The Aussies thought nothing of it when I called somebody "might (mate)" - my American friends glanced at me wierdly, but the Aussies never noticed. Probably just thought I was losing my Yank accent a bit

[orleans]

37. (i personally like flipping into variations of english accents) n/t

[babylonsister]

6. Fer cryin' out loud, that's all you have to gripe about? Did you like what

he said? Not? Why not?

[DeepBlueC]

8. actually, more of an observation than a gripe

I was amused, especially in light of all the foofaraw about Hilary's suppposed accent adjustment.

[a kennedy]

10. I know babylonsister, it's petty, but, I thought it too, and that's what

Oprah does.....when she's among her "people" she gets that sistah thing going......is that racist of me????

[babylonsister]

17. No, but if the OP is talking about the debate, it'd be nice to know if this

is just a trash, or whether he/she liked what was said, or didn't.
I like to think I don't have time for this crap, though I'll read about it.
And I have made no decisions; lots of debates to come. I'll keep reading...

Accents shouldn't be an issue; poor Madonna went through that.
:hide:

[DeepBlueC]

26. I liiked all of them

although Gravel was a bit alarming. Generally I was proud of the entire field of candidates.

[babylonsister]

27. 'Cept you didn't like Obama's accent, or whatever you went with. Why

even bring it up? :shrug:

[DeepBlueC]

29. It amused me.

[ecstatic]

32. Big difference between what Oprah does and what Obama did

Oprah sometimes changes dialect but her accent stays consistent. I personally can't stand when people change their accents. It screams: FAKE!! Sorry but I can't help how I feel about this.

[BeyondGeography]

9. Mild, at least compared to the frontrunner's penchant

for Southing it up on cue.

[illinoisprogressive]

11. I find myself starting to mimic accents after awhile. don't know why, but I do.

[SaveElmer]

12. Obama did very well...

I thought he and Hillary, along with Dodd and Biden were the most impressive...

[BeyondGeography]

15. Dodd really impressed me

as well as the others on your list. His answers were wonderfully composed and as substantive of any of them. He showed lots of personality, as well.

Edwards seemed off of his game tonight; the highfalutin' BS fell flat ("I'm Mr. Substance here"...please) and the dead air on the moral leadership question stick out as weak moments. Richardson managed to come off as both authoritative and clumsy at the same time.

[SaveElmer]

16. Yeah I agree on Richardson...

I like his answers in terms of substance (for the most part...I am not a 2nd Amendment hawk), but his delivery was just not up to par. I've seen him much better...

He is still my second choice...but I have to say, I cannot remember a cycle where we have had a stronger set of candidates!!!

[BeyondGeography]

23. Agreed, especially when you compare it with the other side

I also liked the collegiality that was on display for most of the night. It's early, and the gloves will eventually have to come off. But this looks like a group that will have the credibility and the emotional make-up to inspire unity when the time comes.

[FrenchieCat]

13. Pundits have nothing on this here thread!

I thought they were the only one who "cared" about accents! who would have thunk that DU would also be "into" that! :shrug:

[jenmito]

20. I think it's time for Wesley Clark to enter the race...

Have you heard anything lately?

[FrenchieCat]

21. Not a peep! :( n/t

[loudsue]

35. No, but I'd sure like to!

:loveya: Clark is so knowledgeable and so well spoken. Whether or not he'd shine in this TYPE of debate is another question...the format SUCKED, and the questions SUCKED WORSE!! And each candidate had all of 20 seconds to answer some of the stupid questions, and 60 seconds to answer even STUPIDER questions.

:argh: FUCKING RIGHTWING MEDIA!!

Have I mentioned I hate the republican media???

:kick::kick::kick:

[ElizabethDC]

14. Honestly, I'm not an Obama fan, and I didn't even notice

I thought his overall performance was mediocre, but I didn't notice anything strange about the way he was talking.

[BeyondGeography]

18. The OP refers to an after-debate appearance

which you probably missed. He did get a little down-home (and Olbermann called him on it) but it was hardly a YouTube moment.

[ElizabethDC]

25. oh, I see, I didn't realize that

I didn't get to see any of the post-debate coverage, as I had a meeting at 8:40.

[justinrr1]

19. I noticed it

but it does not matter to me since I vote on substance however my wife has no interest in politics but does vote and walked across the tv when barack was talking and said she wouldnt vote for someone who talked like that. just an observation about how people who are ignorant to politics but still vote take certain things.

[Colobo]

22. I think he did extremely well, and so did your candidate

[DeepBlueC]

24. it wasn't during the debate

It was the address after it. Actually I was on the computer and I heard the TV from the other room. For a minute I wasn't quite sure who was speaking. It's just that "mirroring" thing which goes largely unnoticed at the scene but when broadcast it sounds off when you were just listening to him speak in a different about ten minutes earlier.

[DeepBlueC]

28. a "different voice" I meant to say

[zulchzulu]

30. That's discussing issues here on DU that makes me so proud...

:sarcasm:

[DeepBlueC]

31. so how did you get so far into this triviality ...?

You could have stopped with the OP and moved on.

[FrenchieCat]

33. Just like you want to make your views known......

sometimes folks want to make sure you also know where they are coming from. I'm sure the :sarcasm: in the poster's response was meant to express that thought.

[hedgehog]

34. I didn't notice anything odd about his accent and I didn't hear him

after the debate, so I can't comment on that. I will say that my own accent changes depending on if I 'm talking to people outside the home or my family. I think it's just natural for a lot of us to use something closer to Standard English with outsiders and our own accents and dialects within the family. For what it's worth, I live in Upstate New York and a lot of people here drop their "g"s as well.

As for Hillary, she does slip a little south when she's with Southerners, but that is entirely different from what she did during her speech in Birmingham where she really troweled it on when she was quoting a hymn. The first is natural, the second was embarrassing.

[obamian]

36. Here's Obama's response

STEVE INSKEEP: When you talk about speeches, do you try to talk in the same way to a black audience as a white audience?

SEN. OBAMA: Yeah, I think that the themes are consistent. I think there is a certain black idiom that it is hard not to slip into when you’re talking to a black audience because of the audience response. It’s the classic call-in response. Anybody who has spent time in the black church knows what I mean. So you get a looser. It becomes a little more like jazz and a little less like a set score.

http://blogs.suntimes.com/sweet/2007/02/sweet_blog_special_the_obama_p.html

[TheDonkey]

38. yea, I didn't like that

even though it is true sometimes when you are in those situations you start to mimic the dialect but he was hamming it up toooo much. Obama needs more experience on running and I'm sure he'll get it in the coming months.