Monday, August 15, 2011

I'm not friends with Tim Pawlenty or Michele Bachmann, and I'm from Minnesota

The summer has gone by so fast. Pretty soon school will start back up, and it will be time for Eli to start first grade, me to resume teaching high school, and Pauline to go back to daycare. Life is tough.

If you don't believe me, just ask Tim Pawlenty.

Poor Tim. He really thought he had a shot, until Michele Bachmann came in and stole his thunder. I guess two presidential candidates from Minnesota is one too many. (It's actually two too many if you ask me, but nobody has...)

I'm just curious if his lack of success has more to do with his personality than with his message. I know the Tea Pary is a big deal right now, and I get that's why Michele Bachmann is gaining popularity. But that's not the only reason. Obviously. It's also about personality. Think about what sort of friend Michele Bachmann would be.

 I believe there are three types of friends. There are the compelling, fun kind who are sort of undpredictable and a little unstable. They are fun to be around because you never know what will happen next. This is the Michele Bachmann type of friend. Even though she might lie to your face about her plans for the weekend (the party she didn't invite you to or the guy she's stealing from under your nose), when she's fun she's a lot of fun, so you put up with her.

Then there's the stable, nice guy type of friend. He's the guy who will mow your lawn when you're out of town, but you sort of don't want him because then you'll be obligated to invite him over for a beer, and what will talk about? Tim Pawlenty is obviously this type of friend - heck, he offered to come over and mow the lawns of anyone who could find flaws with his budget plan, or something like that. But nobody wants to have a beer with Tim Pawlenty. Poor Tim Pawlenty.

The third type of friend, which is much more rare, is the type who is both compelling and reliable, fun and sane all at once. These people are hard to find, especially when they're political candidates. But we know this already.

I guess in the political arena, Minnesota nice is a handicap.

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