# Do US politicians change their accent according to audience?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-us-politicians-change-their-accent-according-to-audience/696174>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [August 22, 2014, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-us-politicians-change-their-accent-according-to-audience/696174 "2014-08-22T05:13:26Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\
**Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-us-politicians-change-their-accent-according-to-audience/696174/1 "2014-08-22T05:13:26Z")

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I had always noticed that W sounded much more Texan when he was making a campaign speech then when he was speaking normally. You can see in his ALS video especially when compared to his Mrs. ([George W Bush takes Ice Bucket Challenge for charity - BBC News](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-28870948))

Not living in the US, I usually hear Obama speaking on policy, but I was surprised to hear him speaking on campaign, he sounded much more, I dunno, “folksy”?

Maybe it’s just my foreign ears.😛

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**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\
**Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-us-politicians-change-their-accent-according-to-audience/696174/2 "2014-08-22T09:54:49Z")

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So, eh no?

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**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\
**Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-us-politicians-change-their-accent-according-to-audience/696174/3 "2014-08-22T15:07:42Z")

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With very few exceptions, I think all people do, whatever their station. It’s a useful and subconscious strategy for forming a bond. But certain pretentious people might consciously resist the temptation.