When a party endorses a candidate, what is it telling us?

By Wy Spano

Republicans are ready to do their endorsing of a candidate for governor today in Minneapolis. There are two candidates who might win the endorsement, state Reps. Tom Emmer and Marty Seifert. Whoever wins is guaranteed to win the Republican primary.

Minnesota Democrats endorsed their candidate last weekend. Margaret Anderson Kelliher was endorsed by the 1,300-some delegates meeting in Duluth. She eventually won out over four other viable candidates.

Let's try to answer these questions: What was the Democratic Party trying to tell us when it chose Kelliher? And what will the Republican Party be trying to tell us when it chooses whomever it chooses?

House Speaker Kelliher beat what many Democrats felt was a pretty good field. Each of the other candidates -- Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak, state Reps. Paul Thissen and Tom Rukavina, and state Sen. John Marty -- were thought to possess more of certain qualities than Kelliher. Rybak was thought to be a more forceful, exciting campaigner; Thissen was more cerebral; Rukavina more of a populist; Marty more known for strict ethics positions. Which doesn't mean that Kelliher is boring, dumb, elitist or unethical. What it does mean is that her image is a more balanced one, her persona more fully developed, at least among the party regulars.

Kelliher is a quintessentially Minnesota-style candidate. She has no edges, or edginess. No extremes of any kind. The Democrats seem to be saying they are the party of moderation, of the steady state, of competence over flash. Life may not be perfect right now, but we don't need to explode the system, just fix it a bit.

And the Republicans? They have a choice between what some describe as a practical conservative and a movement conservative. Marty Seifert seems to be the choice of those who think about the general election and attempting to attract voters not normally on your side. His aura is just a tinge less harsh than Emmer's. That used to be considered an important attribute for candidates, this willingness to appeal to enough people to win an election. Currently for Republicans, however, ideological purity seems to be a more important attribute. And measured that way, Emmer is thought to be in the lead.

If Emmer does win the endorsement, what's the message? That a majority of voters agree that some radical changes have to occur in the way we govern ourselves. There is no hint of moderation in an Emmer victory. People are mad ... at President Obama, particularly, but at our whole government system.

If the Republicans are correct, and we're all Tea Partiers now, then Emmer wins the election. If they're wrong about that, Anderson Kelliher wins -- unless, of course, she loses the DFL primary. But that's another story.

----

Wy Spano, former co-editor of Politics in Minnesota, directs the Masters in Advocacy and Political Leadership program at the University of Minnesota Duluth.

Gallery

Fullscreen SlideshowPrevious Slide

1 of 1

Next Slide