Sullivan endorses Romney

On last Saturday's Northern Alliance Radio Network show, "The Final Word" with King Banaian and Michael Brodkorb (broadcast on AM 1280 The Patriot), Brian Sullivan endorsed Mitt Romney for president.

Sullivan, the current Republican National Committeeman from Minnesota, ran against Tim Pawlenty for the Republican endorsement for governor in 2002, which culminated in a legendary, overnight ballot battle royale (ask me to tell you about it someday, it was my first state convention and I was a Sullivan delegate). He has maintained a behind-the-scenes profile since then, with occasional appearances on Almanac as the conservative voice on the political panel. In spite of his unsuccessful endorsement bid, Sullivan is still a favorite son among many Minnesota conservatives.

So Sullivan's endorsement carries some weight in this state, especially on the eve of Fred Thompson's presumed entry into the presidential race this week. Sullivan said that for him, it came down to two candidates, Romney and Thompson.

"I feel both are good conservatives," said Sullivan, "that would support the principles that I believe in, and I think that many conservatives in Minnesota believe in, it came down to who would I hire? Who is it that has actually accomplished something, made a difference, made progress against tough goals, it's Romney."

"In some ways I think that Thompson has become the Republican Party's [Barack] Obama, in the sense that not that much is known about him, he's clearly a very good speaker, he's an appealing personality, but his track record as a Senator, you could argue, isn't very strong...he's going to have to be able to be more than just a good candidate, but actually convince folks that he can lead the charge."

Interestingly, aside from his business experience, Sullivan's critics made much the same arguements in 2002 about Sullivan, who never held elected office.

Brodkorb reported that joining Sullivan in endorsing Romney this week were former Republican National Committeepersons Evie Axdahl, Jack Meeks, and Republican Party of Minnesota Treasurer Tony Sutton.