It’s Not About Being Nice

I grew up in Minnesota where we were taught from Day 1 the importance of being nice. (Which will cause the Republicans problems if they don’t hold a nice convention and the Democrats problems if they don’t protest nicely … but being Minnesotan is a topic for the next convention)

It came as quit a shock to me when I moved to the East Coast and I discovered the Bibles out here don’t actually command us to be nice. Instead it says something about being wise as serpents and innocent as doves.

As a result of this deficiency in my upbringing I’ve been playing catch up all my adult life when it comes to being wise and innocent.

It seems that I am not alone.

One of my great curiosities as I approach the upcoming convention is the expectation that Hillary Clinton ought to be nice. Being nice apparently means pretending that Obama has not yet won the nomination. Now I realize just writing the last sentence means that I am not a nice person (which will undoubtedly send me back to therapy) but hopefully it means that I am a wise person just as I hope both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are.

Another of my curiosities is why the press seems to require Hillary be nice? I’d understand if the press, in pursuit of rating points and circulation, overplayed the drama when it comes to securing the nomination. What seems curious to me is why, for the most part, they underplay the drama, and then accuse Hillary of being not nice when she doesn't act accordingly?

I was reminded of the drama this past week when a friend passed along to me a story about how Hillary’s team had put together 40 floor organizers (whips) for the convention. While it could be that this is the rather “Minnesota nice” gesture on the part of Hillary’s team to make sure all the Obama delegates find their seats, it is more likely that it is a wise gesture to make sure that they can organize their delegates should a “shift” take place when it comes time to vote.

The Democratic Party structured their rules for this convention in such a manner that, much to their surprise and discomfort, the “superdelegates” will decide the nominee. The superdelegates (elected and party officials from each state) will decide if Obama or Hillary wins. For instance, it is possible that due to the votes of New Hampshire’s superdelegates, a majority of New Hampshire’s convention delegation will not vote for the winner of the New Hampshire primary. This does not mean that these superdelegates are somehow not nice, but merely that superdelegates are not obligated to vote for either candidate. They can vote their conscience and they can change their minds (as some already have). No one will know with certainty how they will vote until they vote, which is why we do not for certain who the nominee will be.

Clearly, Senator Clinton’s team is wisely preparing for this possibility and organizing accordingly. If Senator Obama is wise, his team is doing the same thing. Both sides are probably working behind the scenes trying flip each other superdelegates. Now this may not be nice, but it strikes me as wise, and I want our President to be wise. It wasn’t nice of Russia to invade Georgia, but they did it anyway. Moreover, being nice to them hasn’t seemed to make them want to be nicer. I’m not sure niceness is on the rise in Tibet as a result of the Olympics, but being a native Minnesotan I am always hopeful. (There is probably a reason why a Minnesotan has never been President)

I can understand why the Obama people want this done with. They are wise to desire this.

I can understand why Hillary is wisely organizing her whips.

What I cannot understand is why the press would take whatever drama there is out of this vote, by pretending that something can’t happen when I can see it is possible, even if improbable, from an ivory tower 3,000 miles away?

When it comes time for the floor vote this week, you can bet that I’m going to get my gluten-free popcorn and watch what promises to be one of the only moments of intrigue over the next two weeks.

May the wisest candidate win.

So much for playing catch up on wisdom. Now, I need to turn my attention to innocence, which I suspect will be even more challenging.