Mitch Daniels: Heartthrob of the elites (BARF ALERT)

Politico ^ | Saturday January 22, 2011 | JONATHAN MARTIN

[Bigtigermike]

If pundits and columnists represented the GOP base, Mitch Daniels would be the odds-on favorite for the presidential nomination in 2012.

The Indiana governor has been showered with favorable coverage from political thinkers and analysts in recent months, most of which heaped praise on his thoughtful and principled approach to governing while celebrating his serious yet down-to-earth mien.

“Of all the Republicans talking about the deficit these days, Mitch Daniels, the governor of Indiana, has arguably the most credibility,” claimed The New York Times’ David Leonhardt in an Indianapolis-datelined economics column recently.

Daniels is hardly the first presidential prospect to be greeted with bouquets from the cognoscenti as the Last Honest Man in politics. There is a long, bipartisan tradition of White House aspirants who play the truth-teller role and they almost invariably receive better reviews in print than at the polls.

Bruce Babbitt, Paul Tsongas, Ross Perot, John Anderson, Lamar Alexander and John McCain in 2000 all won plaudits from elites for their willingness to speak hard truths about the real problems facing the country rather than just pandering to the partisan rabble.

[terycarl]

would not vote for him for dog catcher I've been to Indiana, the place is a damn mess.

Indiana compared to other states is like comparing a democratic republic to all other forms of government....it't the worst ever....except for all the rest

[terycarl]

Daniels first action here in Indiana upon taking office was de-certifying the UAW as representative of state employees. That little deal had been set up by Evan Bayh 16 yrs previous. It took a lot of b@lls to do that in a state with a lot of union members.

Amen to that....I am no fan of labor unions and at that time, I was a correctional officer. I was surrounded by people who were very upset by his anti-union stance but I would ask them, "what connection do you have with the union other than paying dues every 2 weeks. You can't strike, you can't walk out, you can't demand a raise (legislature sets salary levels).....of what benefit is the union to you???? never had a reasonable answer It certainly made the state budget a whole lot more healthy.