Lori Sturdevant: Endorsements had the ring of punishment

One vote was the elephant in the theater full of District 41 GOP elephants Saturday at Edina's South View Middle School. It was the vote cast Feb. 25 by Republican Reps. Ron Erhardt of 41A and Neil Peterson of 41B to override Gov. Tim Pawlenty's veto, and put a tax-increasing transportation bill into law.

The punishment meted out to the two wayward representatives was stern. Endorsement for the fall election was not only denied them; it was bestowed with ease on their opponents, Keith Downey in 41A, Jan Schneider in 41B.

Both endorsees took pains to say that their critique of the veteran lawmakers went beyond a single vote.

But Schneider's abrupt emergence as Peterson's opponent in late February spoke louder -- as did a scourging seconding speech for Schneider by Marlene Overpeck, who said she "felt betrayed" by Peterson's vote. "I expect the Democrats to act irresponsibly, not our own representative," Overpeck said.

Downey has been running hard since last summer -- even taking a leave of absence as manager of a business consulting firm, the better to campaign. One look at the proliferation of his campaign's red ballcaps and T-shirts where 41A delegates were seated said it all. He didn't need heavy rhetorical artillery to wrest endorsement from Erhardt -- though he wasn't above some not-so-subtle references to age.

"The stark choice we have today is, we can focus on the past or the future," said Downey, who is several decades Erhardt's junior. "We can embrace a DFL-lite agenda, or a Republican agenda."

Applying "DFL-lite" to Erhardt and his late wife Jackie would have been a local laugh line not long ago. A financial planner, Erhardt has been among the party's most prolific fundraisers and reliable foot soldiers for more than 30 years. He's run for the Legislature with party endorsement nine times, and has never won his seat with less than 56 percent of the vote. In 2006, he was the second-best Republican vote-getter in his district, behind only U.S. Rep. Jim Ramstad.

That point begs a longer look: In 2006, DFL U.S. Senate candidate Amy Klobuchar took District 41 with more than 56 percent of the vote. Pawlenty won there too, but his percent of the vote barely cracked 50 percent.

And in 2004, Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry carried District 41A with 51 percent. Rumor had it that there were rumblings under old Edina gravestones for days thereafter.

You'd think that those votes -- and not just the one on the transportation bill -- would have been on District 41 minds Saturday. It doesn't seem to be a propitious time for Republicans to be in purge mode.

Peterson tried to remind the convention of events on the larger political stage.

"This district is trending blue," he said. Republicans aren't automatic winners anymore. A Republican has to be able to attract independent and even DFL votes to prevail. "I've done that before, and I can do it again," Peterson said.

Those words were for naught, as was Erhardt's assurance, "I fit the district." He clearly didn't fit the convention.

The legislators' defense of their transportation votes -- that they were needed to solve a problem that is as keenly felt in Edina and Bloomington as anywhere in the state -- also fell flat. Delegates were unpersuaded by reminders that the Chamber of Commerce and the Business Partnership -- both important GOP allies -- supported the transportation bill.

Maybe that's because delegates could see for themselves how far the business community's support went. Former state Chamber governing board president Scott Thiss placed Downey's name into nomination for endorsement. Business Partnership lobbyist Jill Larson sported a Downey sticker. "I'm here as an individual," she said by way of explanation.

And a House staffer whispered to reporters that Erhardt expected a letter of support from Chamber president David Olson. No letter arrived. ("We had members on both sides of that one," Olson explained. He spoke at the GOP District 48B convention on behalf of another override-backer, Rep. Jim Abeler of Anoka. Abeler, too, was denied endorsement, but wasn't dumped in favor of an upstart.)

About half of the delegates at South View Saturday indicated that they were newcomers to convention politics. Then they likely don't know what a hard-fought primary battle -- or a November bid by a formidable independent -- can do to a party's prospects.

If they knew, maybe they would not have looked so pleased with themselves at the convention's end.

Lori Sturdevant is a Star Tribune editorial writer and columnist. She is at lsturdevant@startribune.com.