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Mitch Daniels Is Unelectable
Riehl World View ^ | 5/20/2011 | Dan Riehl

Posted on 05/21/2011 9:03:11 AM PDT by Qbert

With friends like Conor with one N, Mitch Daniels probably doesn't need enemies within the conservative base.

Everything is upside down in the Republican primaries. The GOP establishment is rallying behind a principled candidate with a proven conservative track record. That's upsetting the conservative base: on talk radio and right wing blogs, they concede that the man in question governs as a staunch conservative, but insist his candidacy isn't viable because he lacks charisma and electability.

Gee, Daniels is making headlines, again. He has a real gift for that.

Indiana Republican governor Mitch Daniels was hit in the forehead by a swinging door after concluding a workout Friday afternoon, prompting an injury that required 16 stitches.

Naturally, a silly boy like Friedersdorf would love Daniels. Conor with one N doesn't understand, let alone effort to advance conservatism, while doing more harm, than good, to it when he purportedly does try. As for Daniels, time after time he has proved himself gaffe-prone and self-defeating whenever his profile rises to the level of national politics. I don't care how right he is for Indiana, or what his record may, or may not be. He's unelectable, even if the so-called elite's calculations claim he is the answer to all things Republican in 2012.

Ideology aside, if we can learn anything from watching John McCain stumble and bumble his way through the 2008 general election, it should be that a self-destructive, not truly ready for prime-time, ultimately uninspiring and unsympathetic figure will not do well against Obama. Whatever Obama is, or isn't, when it comes to performing on the campaign trail, with all the help he gets from the media, it's as if he can do no wrong.

The GOP can not afford a 2012 nominee who has consistently demonstrated an uncanny ability to say and do precisely the wrong thing to the wrong people at the wrong time. If anything, Daniels makes Romney's relatively weak political judgment look strong by comparison. The Indiana Governor is unelectable and, frankly, I'm not interested in hearing what a great conservative he is, allegedly.

It's time for the so-called elites to figure out that much of the opposition to Daniels has little to do with ideology and much to do with his earned perception of being unelectable in 2012.  To the extent things may be turned upside down right now, it's that the grassroots get that and the establishment GOP hasn't figured it out. But then, perhaps that isn't all that surprising given what we've seen from them for the last decade, or more.


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KEYWORDS: 2012; daniels; mitchdaniels
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"Ideology aside, if we can learn anything from watching John McCain stumble and bumble his way through the 2008 general election, it should be that a self-destructive, not truly ready for prime-time, ultimately uninspiring and unsympathetic figure will not do well against Obama. Whatever Obama is, or isn't, when it comes to performing on the campaign trail, with all the help he gets from the media, it's as if he can do no wrong."
1 posted on 05/21/2011 9:03:13 AM PDT by Qbert
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To: Qbert

Mitch and Sarah seem to generate a lot of vitriol. Wonder why?


2 posted on 05/21/2011 9:06:54 AM PDT by John W (Natural-born US citizen since 1955)
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To: Qbert

With all the help he gets from the media, it’s as if he can do no wrong.
To the media anyone but a democrat is unelectable going to be a lot of crow served on election day.


3 posted on 05/21/2011 9:07:54 AM PDT by Vaduz
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To: Qbert

I by no means see Obama as unbeatable, even by a boring candidate. That said, the thing that concerns me is that both of the recent presidents who had high popularity which melted down during a recession were beat by opponents who were political rock stars...Reagan and Clinton. And Clinton needed Perot’s help!


4 posted on 05/21/2011 9:10:28 AM PDT by Mr. Silverback (Anyone who says we need illegals to do the jobs Americans won't do has never watched "Dirty Jobs.")
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To: Qbert
Using the stumbling, bumbling metaphor for Mitch Daniels is a lame reason for fighting his candidacy. This is the type of red meat we should use in rebuttal: Indiana Supreme Court: citizens have no right to resist unlawful police entry. Justice Steven David, who wrote the majority stance, is a Mitch Daniels appointee.
5 posted on 05/21/2011 9:11:39 AM PDT by bcsco
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To: Qbert

Hey, at least Jimmy Carter’s rabbit was a living thing.


6 posted on 05/21/2011 9:12:00 AM PDT by 9YearLurker
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To: Qbert

... after his workout at about 1:30 p.m., he was standing near a doggie-door that suddenly swung open and struck Daniels in the forehead. The dog was not injured.

His security detail took him to Methodist Hospital, where he received 16 stitches. He was recovering at home Friday afternoon.


7 posted on 05/21/2011 9:12:27 AM PDT by A. Morgan
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To: John W

Mitch ain’t seen nuthin’ compared to Sarah. When she gets in officially they won’t be talking about Mitch anymore.


8 posted on 05/21/2011 9:13:10 AM PDT by ReneeLynn (Socialism is SO yesterday. Fascism, it's the new black. Mmm mmm mmm...)
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To: Qbert

I don’t know a ton about Daniels but he does admire Lugar and I do not.

Not to mention - when was the last time the shorter candidate won? And, his stitches in the forehead remind me of Gary Bauer falling off the stage. Superficial I know but these things have a way of adding up.


9 posted on 05/21/2011 9:13:35 AM PDT by Aria ( "If we ever forget that we're one nation under God, then we will be a nation gone under.")
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To: Qbert

If the GOP puts up another McCain/Dole, GOP establishment, country club Rockefeller republican, we’re toast.

As it turns out, the two individuals who are the exact opposite of what is described above are both Black Americans.
Herman Cain and Allen West. Cain is running, West says he’s not. If either one of them was nominated, can you imagine Obama knee-pad wearers like David Gregory trying to use the race card? The lame-stream media would be in a real quandary.


10 posted on 05/21/2011 9:15:44 AM PDT by Signalman
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To: Qbert

This guy has done nothing to slap down his SSC’s decision to trash the 4th amendment. Don’t vote for him.

I can’t believe that the Republicans can’t find one good person to run for president. We are in so much trouble.


11 posted on 05/21/2011 9:18:00 AM PDT by Revel
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To: bcsco
Qbert, Sarah appointed an abortion rights fanatic to the AK court.

Here's your problem ~ you let the Leftwingtards sneak around over the last 40 years and eliminate elected judgeships. They were replaced with a system that uses a committee of experts (Bwahahahahaha ~ they're all lawyers ~ montebancs ~ experts MY A$$) to select a number of candidates who are then sent to the Governor for selection.

All that's happened is we've taken the Governor and immersed them in the cesspool of court intrigue while limiting the franchise. In fact, the Leftwingtards took the right to vote for judges away from Blacks, Indians, Jews, Women, Released Felons........ all their supposed constituencies.

The solution is to go back to electing judges. In the meantime the guys who sponsored these judicial commission sessions should be rounded up and disposed of like trash.

Yeah, I like the sound of that.

These are NOT ordinary appointments like a Governor might make of his cronies.

Holding the Governors accountable for them is ridiculous.

12 posted on 05/21/2011 9:18:03 AM PDT by muawiyah
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To: Signalman
Cain is running, West says he’s not. If either one of them was nominated, can you imagine Obama knee-pad wearers like David Gregory trying to use the race card?

How did black racers treat Condi Rice and Clarence Thomas?

Bingo.

Ideology trumps race, every time with the left. Blacks who have 'left the plantation' are fair game, and are given NO quarter by liberal blacks, or by the mainstream press.

13 posted on 05/21/2011 9:20:42 AM PDT by Windflier (To anger a conservative, tell him a lie. To anger a liberal, tell him the truth.)
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To: Signalman

Wouldn’t make a difference to the MSM.


14 posted on 05/21/2011 9:21:56 AM PDT by muawiyah
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To: muawiyah
Holding the Governors accountable for them is ridiculous.

Do what you want. I'll do what I want, and hold any, ANY governor responsible for bad appointments. Either they walk the walk or they get called on the carpet. Palin, Daniels, et al. Daniels is Luger Light, IMO.

15 posted on 05/21/2011 9:22:18 AM PDT by bcsco
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To: A. Morgan

Maybe that door knocked some sense into him and he won’t run.


16 posted on 05/21/2011 9:23:42 AM PDT by Georgia Girl 2 (The only purpose of a pistol is to fight your way back to the rifle you should never have dropped.)
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To: bcsco
You need to get rid of the commission system first. It's anti-democratic, and it's obvious it belches up inferior candidates.
17 posted on 05/21/2011 9:24:32 AM PDT by muawiyah
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To: John W
Mitch and Sarah seem to generate a lot of vitriol. Wonder why?

Daniels doesn't endure nearly the amount of unhinged hatred and vitriol that Palin does. Not even close.

She's spent more time over the target than any other Republican hopeful in the last three years.



18 posted on 05/21/2011 9:24:44 AM PDT by Windflier (To anger a conservative, tell him a lie. To anger a liberal, tell him the truth.)
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To: John W

“Mitch and Sarah seem to generate a lot of vitriol. Wonder why?”

I don’t have personal animosity towards him. I just see a lot of similarities between his approach towards challenging Obama and McCain’s flawed approach. Obama is a bully, and I think the public is craving somebody who will stand firm and push back.

The media will always be against Republicans- the only way to counter this is to seize the floor and inject your views into the debate, because they will never do it for you. I have my doubts that Daniels can do that.

And I don’t think being right on a lot of policies will win the day if you can’t properly articulate those policies to the public. His constant backtracking is troublesome to me.


19 posted on 05/21/2011 9:26:56 AM PDT by Qbert ("The best defense against usurpatory government is an assertive citizenry" - William F. Buckley, Jr.)
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To: muawiyah

I have no problem getting rid of the commission system. But I’ll be damned if I won’t hold governors responsible for their decisions until that happens. We elect these people to office based on expectations. And those expectations, IMO, aren’t negotiable.


20 posted on 05/21/2011 9:27:56 AM PDT by bcsco
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