Sarah Palin endorses Tom Emmer for governor

"A patriotic fiscally conservative "hockey dad" who got his start in politics by serving on his local city councils is running for governor of the great state of Minnesota. His name is Tom Emmer, and I'm proud to support him," she writes.

She never mentions the other front-runner, Marty Seifert.

"Coming from a working class background, Tom is known as a straight-talker who is unafraid of taking on the challenge of reining in the size and scope of government," she writes. "A proud father of seven, Tom is in this race for the right reasons - to provide bold, principled leadership that will leave Minnesota fiscally stronger for the next generation."

Did the hockey thing help?: Emmer "once played for the University of Alaska-Fairbanks Nanooks."

Whether any of this makes a difference in Emmer's pitched battle against Seifert remains to be seen, but you can be sure Republicans gathering in Minneapolis tonight for their state convention will be talking about it.

Update: Emmer tells MPR he's pleased:

"I think it's like everything else we've done in this campaign. It's part of our momentum. The goal obviously is to be peaking tomorrow for endorsement purposes, but more importantly to be peaking in November."

This is the second time in recent weeks that Palin has inserted herself into Minnesota politics. On April 7 she headlined a Minneapolis fundraiser and rally for Rep. Michele Bachmann, prompting talk about a Palin-Bachmann presidential ticket -- and yet another lampooning from Comedy Central's Jon Stewart. She'll be back in town to sell someone else's snake oil in May.