def METHOD_NAME(self, cleartext_password: typing.Optional[str]) -> bool:
    """
    Check the password against existing credentials.
    :param cleartext_password: the password that was provided by the user
        to try and authenticate. This is the clear text version that we
        will need to match against the hashed one in the database.
    :type cleartext_password: unicode object.
    :return: Whether the password is valid.
    :rtype: bool
    """
    if not self.password:
        return False
    return self._validate_hash(self.password, cleartext_password)