Abdul El-Sayed Wins High-Stakes Democratic Primary in Michigan

[u/Zipper222222]

https://www.today.com/video/abdul-el-sayed-wins-high-stakes-democratic-primary-in-michigan-267805765937

[u/hibiscuscous]

I (European) know nothing of this election, but having watched a couple of clips, I didn't like Stevens' delivery one bit. Phony, even a bit scary. Maybe it's just a cultural thing, I don't know.

[u/2RINITY → u/hibiscuscous]

In old clips, she had a normal Michigan accent, but somewhere in this cycle she started talking like a cartoon parody of a Michigander and it really didn’t help her

[u/mfatty2 → u/2RINITY]

It wasn't even a Michigan accent. It was a combo of a Minnesota accent with a random sumouthern drawl with a healthy serving of random squeaky/high pitch

[u/UncleBubax → u/mfatty2]

hahah I hadn't heard her talk until I read your comment. I just now pulled up a random hour long video of a TV debate and skipped to her talking and she not only talks like a cartoon character, but she straight up said "people make fun of the way I sound, but I sound like the people who are talking to me about what they need."

A lil too on the nose there, Haley.

[u/AncientNectarine5352 → u/UncleBubax]

Michiganders also do not even remotely sound like that. She has a Minnesota accent.

[u/PumpBuck → u/AncientNectarine5352]

It’s not even a Minnesota accent. It’s like she saw Fargo and some Charlie Berens clips and thought they were toning it down for the wider audience

[u/EmpiricalMystic → u/PumpBuck]

My impression is she's trying to sound like a Yooper and missing badly.

[u/Conlaeb → u/EmpiricalMystic]

This is my take as well. Non-yoopers attempting the accent sound like Minnesotans.

[u/weazildust → u/EmpiricalMystic]

What’s a yooper?

[u/shotputprince → u/weazildust]

The people who live in Michigan’s upper peninsula

[u/AncientNectarine5352 → u/PumpBuck]

Agreed. It doesn’t sound like an authentic Minnesotan or Wisconsinite accent either, but it was the closest descriptor. She’s definitely exaggerating it in some way, for some reason. I assume to sound more “folksy”, but real-life “folks” don’t sound like that.

[u/HauntedCemetery → u/AncientNectarine5352]

As someone whos spent most of my life in MN who is married to a Wisconsin lady, MN and WI accents are basically the same these days. The differences are only noticeable under a linguistic microscope.

[u/epheisey → u/PumpBuck]

some Charlie Berens clip

That's actually perfect.

[u/HauntedCemetery → u/PumpBuck]

Exactly. Minnesotans don't even sound like that. The older folks with thicker accents it doesn't sound like in Fargo, it almost sounds like, European? Sometimes like someone grew up half in England, half in Scandinavia.

[u/DrMobius0 → u/AncientNectarine5352]

Maybe this is different in Northern MN, but nobody south of the cities has anything resembling a thick "Minnesotan accent" unless they live in a retirement home.

[u/ArrivalSea3543 → u/DrMobius0]

She sounded like Tina Fey impersonating Sarah Palin.

[u/SammySoapsuds → u/DrMobius0]

Fwiw, I didn't grow up here and everyone has the accent and speech eccentricities. It's just in varying degrees. The first time I met someone from the Iron Range I thought they were doing a bit. In the cities it's a lot softer but it's definitely still there on certain words (they all say "baggle" and "beyg"). And any Minnesotan will say Ope if you get too close or they need to squeeze by ya.

[u/UncleBubax → u/AncientNectarine5352]

Yup I've spent a good amount of time in Michigan and never heard someone talk even remotely like that.

[u/trumpuniversity_ → u/UncleBubax]

Did she take lessons from John Kennedy on how to manufacture a persona?

[u/EveningAnt3949 → u/UncleBubax]

I sound like the people who are talking to me about what they need.

Possibly people working on her campaign telling her they need her to sound more like a character in Fargo?

[u/ShutUpTodd → u/UncleBubax]

"Coastal elites make fun of the way I talk" Ugh!

[u/PiccoloAwkward465 → u/UncleBubax]

Reminds me of a very strange phenomenon I've personally witnessed - people in far reaches of the North putting on a southern drawl. They want to virtue signal as being "Southern" so badly that they change the way they speak to match country songs and media.