State Sen. Pat Pariseau began her long political career on a lark. Her husband "was the one interested in politics — especially Barry Goldwater" in the 1970s, she said, and he attended a Republican caucus with some high school buddies. Over breakfast the next morning, Ken Pariseau had a surprise. "He said to me, 'You're a delegate,' " she recalled last week from her St. Paul office. "I said: 'What on earth are you talking about? What am I going to do? ' " Despite her misgivings, she went to that year's Republican convention. "He thought I might enjoy it,"...