Romney: "I am an unofficial Southerner"

[Filuwaúrdjan]

'Genuine' is an interesting word in the context of accents though, isn't it?

[King]

Younger Yale Bush didn't have an accent, but he had one by the time he ran for President. It wasn't faking. Americans who live in Britain for a few years acquire the local accent, too. 

If Mitt starts speaking in convincing accent, then we know he's an android and must be annihilated.

[I'm JewCon in name only.]

Bush's accent is real. I resided in New York for awhile, and I lost my accent within a few years of coming back to North Carolina.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

I had to consciously work to maintain a New England accent during a few years in New Jersey as a matter of cultural identity, and now that I'm back in Massachusetts it's definitely easier and I don't have to force it. Jumping on the 'Bush's accent is real' bandwagon.

[Yank2133]

Yeah,  I have been in VA for over a decade.....and I still struggle to keep my Jersey accent.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Yeah,  I have been in VA for over a decade.....and I still struggle to keep my Jersey accent.

Why?  I doubt anyone cares if your from that Balliwick. It's not as if Jersey is Guernsey.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

I actually say "y'all" regularly. I must be soooo Southern. At least MI is farther South than friggin MA.

[Wisconsin+17]

Actually,

41'41 is the southern border of Michigan.

Nantucket is at 41'13.

So Massachusetts is more southern than Michigan.

[Adam Griffin]

Bush's accent is definitely real; he wouldn't be smart enough to fake it all those years. Northern accents don't last very long when you're living down south, unless you focus on it or live on top of a mountain with no other verbal influence. I've had several friends who have came down from Ohio, New York and Massachusetts, only to see their accents muted within a couple of years and after a couple more, actually sounding southern.

[Torie]

Younger Yale Bush didn't have an accent, but he had one by the time he ran for President. It wasn't faking. Americans who live in Britain for a few years acquire the local accent, too. 

If Mitt starts speaking in convincing accent, then we know he's an android and must be annihilated.

Bush grew up in Midland, Texas, and he has had that accent for life.  His younger siblings grew up elsewhere, and don't.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Mittens does make a lot of silly mistakes but are we overemphasizing his gaffes in comparison with other candidates in previous elections?

I think the Internet has something to do with it and the proliferation of handheld technology. In the old days, most of the stump speeches weren't recorded and thus couldn't be compared for consistency.

But Mitt is certainly in a class of weak politicians who makes all of these little and sometimes not so little mistakes. It is just that now, such politicians are more vulnerable in this era of instant communication.

[J. J.]

Huckabee thought the remark was good.  BTW:  I do eat grits and grits and cheese is common in my neighborhood.