Andrew Yang is a unique figure in presidential politics and brings something to the race we could use a lot more of.

He is real. He talks to people — all kinds of people — and is not hindered by the unwritten rules of political tribalism and Twitter wokeness that have become wholly unproductive, if not totally exasperating.

When Yang weighed in on the recent appearance of Ricky Gervais at the Golden Globes (in which the comedian went the distance in offending every Hollywood elite in the room,) the presidential candidate made no effort to massage the bruised ego of the entertainment community. He told the Lowell Sun, “I mean, they freaking hired him multiple times. They kind of know what kind of comedian he is and it is comedy so I’d put it up to a matter of taste.”

Earlier this year, a comedian who had made racially charged comments about Yang and others was famously fired from “Saturday Night Live.” Instead of rounding up a social media mob as is the way cancel culture works, Yang opted to talk with the man.

“We had a good, frank, off-the-record conversation,” he confirmed to the Sun. “I was on the record saying that I did not think that he should lose his job. Again, it’s comedy. I thought I had a particular opportunity to let people know that turning on each other is not productive even if someone says something that you find offensive. One person said it to me best — ‘If you’re angry at someone and say they should lose their job, a week later you might have forgotten all about it but that person still doesn’t have their job.'”

It should not be an extraordinary thing to hear, but in 2020 it is.

In a meeting with the Lowell Sun and Fitchburg Sentinel, Yang explained that he was willing to speak to media and interviewers of all stripes, including the podcasters of the enigmatic “International Dark Web.”

“To me its obvious that you’re going to have a hard time persuading anyone to your point of view if you’re not willing to talk to them and that it’s going to be very hard to bring our country together to solve problems that affect us all if you decide that 40% of Americans are somehow not worth talking to or not worth your time,” he said.

The 44-year-old entrepreneur also stands out in today’s politics because, though a progressive Democrat, he does not look down on or disparage Trump voters in any way. Rather, he wants to engage them.

“You go to people where they are. You talk to them like Americans and human beings,” he remarked.

What is most notable about Yang is the respect he shows toward his fellow citizens by being himself, regardless of what high-dollar political consultants and marketing geniuses manufacture year after year for public consumption.

Most of our leading politicians are more like carefully constructed cyborgs than human beings — it is why young people are bored by them and why so many awkward moments occur on the campaign trail. So coached and preprogrammed are candidates that they panic when tasked with acting human — just watch one of them flip burgers in Iowa. The mechanical characters at Chuck E. Cheese are less animatronic.

We do not share an abundance of policy positions with Andrew Yang. We certainly do not believe 16-year-olds should be voting or that Universal Basic Income is practical in its current design.

We also know that Yang is the most genuine candidate in the Democratic field, he is a successful businessman who has lived in the real world his entire life, and unlike his political competitors, still does.