DULUTH — State Sen. John Marty — one of the six top candidates for the DFL nomination for governor — has a big smile on his face this afternoon, as he works the convention floor here in Duluth. Does he know something we don't know?

"I picked up six or seven more delegates today. I've been working a lot of the electability issue," he said, pulling out a map with lots of red and blue which, he said, shows that he's the only candidate in the endorsement process who's ever carried a Republican district. Of course, he was trounced in the 1994 governor's race by Arne Carlson, but that was so last century.

Marty said he's solidly in third right now, behind Rybak and Kelliher (although there are a couple of other candidates, like Thissen and Rukavina who'll probably say the same thing when they wander by.)

Said Marty: "First is better than third, but third is not too bad right now."