Does she sound like a senator?
A Siena poll out this week reported that only 29 percent of respondents said they would like to vote for Kirsten Gillibrand for US Senate in November -- 45 percent said they preferred someone else. That's a trend that's pretty much held steady since KG was appointed to replace Hillary Clinton a year ago.
So why don't voters seem to warming to Gillibrand? The NYO's Reid Pillifant recently offered a theory that was new to us: it's KG's speaking voice. From his Pillifant's piece:
"Kirsten Gillibrand has what I would call a non-regional American young female's accent," wrote Dr. Bert Vaux, a sociolinguistics scholar at the University of Cambridge, who was asked by The Observer to analyze Ms. Gillibrand's public speaking. "Though I lack the phonetic expertise to put my finger on what exactly is involved in this, her voice quality is of the sort that is typically associated with pre-workforce-age white American females. Judging by the case of this woman, this speech pattern has now extended into higher age ranges."
Pillifant goes on to note that Harold Ford is an excellent public speaker. Here's Ford speaking at a MLK Day event this week (with Gillibrand in the background).
We always thought the KG/Tracy Flick comparison was cheap and wrong. But we have to admit that when we watched her "accept" the appointment last January, we thought: "It kind of sounds like she's running for student body president."
A few other bits about Gillibrand/Ford after the jump.
+ That Siena poll also reported that Gillibrand registered her highest unfavorable rating (32 percent) of the past year. Even so, she leads Ford 41-17 in a hypothetical primary. She trails George Pataki 51-38 in a hypothetical general election matchup (Pataki hasn't said anything publicly about running).
+ Harold Ford announced this week that he's taking leave from his job at Bank of America Merrill Lynch so that he can, in the words of a spokesman, spend time "listening to New Yorkers and discussing his goals as an independent Democrat while he makes a final decision whether to run for Senate." [AP/NYT]
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I could also argue that that's part of what makes her so liked by those that have actually met and had conversations with her. She's a very personable person, and very easy to talk to. Not in a George W Bush American Idiot kind of way. She's very intelligent, yet she sounds like an average person when she's talking to average people. I think her vocal quality has a lot to do with that.
... said Slacker on Jan 20, 2010 at 12:28 PM | link
Harold Ford, Jr. = Carpetbagger
How much was your Wall Street bonus this year?
... said UNY on Jan 20, 2010 at 3:18 PM | link
Hillary Clinton = Carpetbagger
Why is it that Democrats who don't have good public speaking skills are referred to as "personable"?
... said ph on Jan 21, 2010 at 11:35 AM | link
It's nice to know some schmuck thinks we are that much of an unruly mob with a sheep mentaility, that it's Gillibrand's speech that is her undoing.
Why is Gillibrand unpopular?
1st, she was ALREADY unpopular with those left leaning wackadoodles who want laws for everything to fit their skewed moral compass, because she was laisez faire on many civil liberties. Which ANY politician should be
Then she became Sneator and changed...voted for Don't ask don't tell, the health care 'reform' bill (here's a tip, if it has a positive title in the law...it is meant to screw you more) and even flipped her gun law stance. She has also became Schumer's lapdog...whatever he says she echoes...in order to gain those NYC votes that she would have never gotten in the first place. However, if she remained constant to who she was and what she believes in, she'd have her dignity. She doesn't even have that anymore.
As for Ford being a great speaker? Why? That video didn't strike me as impressive, just a cliche of the 'preacher cadence' that many black politicians speak in, Martin Lawrence hams that speech pattern to death.
I also don't want Spitzer or any other of the Republicans I've heard on my Conservative side running either. We need a Libertarian or a Green party person to step up...and make history by showing that you don't have to be a Republicrat to win office.
... said JamesCampbell on Jan 22, 2010 at 10:55 AM | link