Free Republic

Some 20 million Americans in primaries and caucuses will take part in selecting the Republican presidential nominee. One person will choose the vice presidential nominee. This has long struck me as absurd: One person choosing someone who, as a result, might become president for as long as 10 years. But just about everyone in politics says it's the only proper way. Over the last 25 years, presidential nominees of both parties have engaged in conscientious consultation and have mostly made pretty good choices. No more picks at five o'clock in the morning to meet a convention deadline. For even longer,...

"Conservatives would have to mount a massive, rapid, and high volume effort to get him in. I think such an outpouring of support and requests would draw Perry in. But, to do so, it’d have to be after Daniels and with continued displeasure with the field by conservatives. One of the sticking points has always been whether the country was ready for another guy from Texas so soon after Bush. With Texas’s economy flourishing and the national economy still imploding, I think the country could get ready for another guy from Texas really quick. Daniels is running. How conservatives react...

Top Republicans are increasingly convinced that President Barack Obama will be easily reelected if stronger GOP contenders do not emerge, and some are virtually begging Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels to add some excitement to the slow-starting nomination race. It’s a sign of the GOP’s straits that the party is depending on the bland, wonkish Daniels for an adrenaline boost. But interviews this week with longtime party activists and strategists made clear that many in the Republican establishment are unnerved by a field led by Mitt Romney, who could have trouble confronting Obama on health reform; Tim Pawlenty, who has yet...

Mitch Daniels has not yet declared that he will run for the Republican nomination for president. In truth, he is an unlikely nominee, despite the half-hearted cheerleading he has enjoyed from the likes of Fox News and National Review, who appear to have latched onto him in lieu of their first love, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. It has been reported that the Bush family is supporting the current Indiana governor and former budget director for the Bush 43 White House, presumably because they understand that neither the nation nor the party has any appetite for a third President Bush...

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Indiana won a key victory in its fight to cut off public funding for Planned Parenthood Wednesday when a federal judge refused to block a tough new abortion law from taking effect, a move that could boost Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels' image among social conservatives as he considers running for president. U.S. District Judge Tanya Walton Pratt denied Planned Parenthood of Indiana's request for a temporary restraining order despite arguments that the law jeopardizes health care for thousands of women.

Report: Mitch Daniels ‘Would Like to Run’ for Prez, Just Waiting on Wife’s OK Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels wants to run for president and is not in the process of convincing himself to do it, a close adviser said. The last hurdle remaining is ongoing discussions between him and his wife, Cheri Daniels, over whether she is ready to face questions about their past. “I think he would like to do it,” the Daniels adviser told The Huffington Post by phone. “I actually think he’d have a decent chance of getting the nomination.” The insight from a source close to...

Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels is expected to announce his decision regarding the 2012 Republican presidential nomination in the coming weeks. Allen County Republican Party Chairman Steve Shine says, “The Indiana Legislature will be adjourning at the end of this month and that is the Governor’s timetable to make his decision on whether or not to run for President.” The Republican county chairman also noted that he expects Mr. Daniels will enter the 2012 Republican presidential race.

SEASIDE, Ore. — Oregon Republicans attending the annual Dorchester Conference in Seaside, Ore., say they would vote for Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels as a presidential candidate, while former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin came in third. Thirty percent say they would vote for Daniels. He was praised Sunday for being fiscally conservative, having "core moral values" and running a state government with a budget surplus. The Daily Astorian reports that another 23 percent say they would vote for former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and 18 percent would vote for Palin, the 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee...

Today Governor Mitch Daniels of Indiana dealt a serious blow to his chances for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012, when he caved in to the walk-out by Democrats in the Indiana House over a controversial right-to-work bill. Beth Schneider writes in the Indianapolis Star: Daniels told reporters this afternoon that he expects House Democrats will return to work if the bill dies. It would be unfortunate if other bills are caught up in the turmoil, he said. He will not send out state police to corral the Democrats, the Republican governor said. The Democrat minority has (the) right to...

It's Christmas Eve, so let's treat ourselves to something conservative political junkies enjoy: handicapping the 2012 Republican field. On the Fox News Special Report this evening, panelists Stephen Hayes and Charles Krauthammer both singled out Mitch Daniels as a man to watch. Hayes identifed the Indiana gov as perhaps the true Tea Party candidate—someone willing to speak the hard truths about the need for entitlement reform. The ever-interesting Krauthammer found Daniels' lack of charisma appealing--as an antidote to our overdose of hope-and-change. View video after the jump.

It's an ornate office in Indiana's beautifully maintained mid-19th-century Capitol, but the 49th governor of Indiana, Mitch Daniels, is not dressed to match the setting. He's just returned from spending the night in Princeton, Ind., staying at a constituent's house -- as he often does around the state -- and he's dressed in a work shirt and jeans. I've known Mitch Daniels since he was a staffer for Sen. Richard Lugar in the 1980s, and for years he struck me as one of the least likely candidates for public office. He's got strong, mostly conservative convictions; he doesn't suffer fools...

Paul Ryan Talks Up Mitch Daniels [Robert Costa] John McCormack gets Rep. Paul Ryan's take on Mitch Daniels: Ryan was willing to talk up the presidential prospects of another Republican: Indiana governor Mitch Daniels....

snip Would Daniels, for example, reinstate the Reagan-era Mexico City policy (banning U.S. foreign aid to groups that provide or promote abortion overseas)? The policy has been suspended and reinstated by executive order by successive Democratic and Republican presidents for the past 20 years. Daniels’ stunning answer to McCormack’s question: “I don’t know.” The reply would have been careless for any prospective GOP candidate for the White House; for a reputed social conservative, it was something much worse. It had the feel of a planned surprise – a flight from orthodoxy meant as a symbolic message that a whole array...

Host: TeaPAC Location: Castle Green Hotel - Romanesque Room 50 E Green Street Pasadena, CA 91105 US When: Saturday, February 27, 8:00AM to 12:00PM Phone: (626)792-1772 Cost: $20.00/person (Includes catered Continental Breakfast) Parking: Old Schoolhouse parking structure directly across street from the Romanesque Room. RSVP required (SEE LINK) Who should attend? All Tea Party organizations, candidates, contributors, campaign organizations, interested media and GOP stakeholders. We ask that you invite your key decision makers, especially those who are interested in learning how to create grass roots political action using the Neighborhood Tea Party strategy. Agenda for L. A. Summit: Victory 2010...

MONA CHAREN FEBRUARY 26, 2010 12:00 A.M. The Anti-Obama? Mitch Daniels might challenge Obama in 2012; the GOP would be lucky to have him. On the morning of November 5, 2008, the world rocked to news that the United States had elected Barack Obama to the presidency. That same morning, Mitch Daniels, governor of Indiana, joined the list of those most often mentioned as potentially defeating President Obama in 2012. In what may be a sign of unusual mental health and emotional balance, Daniels persistently declined to be considered a candidate. Among his many reasons, he told C-SPAN’s Brian Lamb,...

After months of Shermanesque denials, Indiana GOP Gov. Mitch Daniels’ admission that he’s now willing to consider a White House run has roused his long-standing, if unofficial, fan club. Republican admirers from Washington, Indiana and elsewhere, hoping to encourage their favorite Hoosier, are out in force to make the case that a balding, blunt, unprepossessing, listed-at-5-foot-7 policy wonk would be a strong contender to take on President Barack Obama. Their shorthand is that he’s the un-Obama. If the country has soured on a charismatic orator who brought glamour but little executive experience to the presidency, the thinking goes, then Daniels...

Add one more name to the list of possible 2012 Republican candidates for president: Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels. Two months ago, in an interview in his state capitol office, Daniels said explicitly he was not interested in running for president and dismissed speculation that he might be a candidate. That has now changed. During an interview at the winter meeting of the National Governors Association here over the weekend, Daniels said he has now been persuaded to keep open the door to a possible candidacy. Daniels said he has had a number of conversations in recent months -- "none initiated...

INDIANAPOLIS | Did Hoosiers get a first look last week at The Ticket? Mitch Daniels. Jeb Bush. 2012? Both Republicans frequently deny seeking higher office, but each man also told The Times the other would be a strong candidate for a presidential run. "If he wants it, sure," Bush said of Daniels' national prospects. "I honestly believe he is the best governor in the country in terms of the courage of his convictions, intelligence, strategic thinking," Bush said. At the same time, Daniels said he's disappointed Bush says he's ruled out a future in government. "I understand his answer, but...

INDIANAPOLIS -- They supported him on his way to the Statehouse, now a group of Indiana Republicans are behind an effort aimed at taking Gov. Mitch Daniels to the White House. An assembly of GOP insiders known as the Frugal Hoosiers has launched the Web site Americans For Mitch, extolling the current Indiana governor's qualities as a leader and a possible presidential candidate. "I think Americans could benefit from his style of leadership and what he brings," said Mike O'Brien, a former Daniels staffer and chairman of the Hendricks County Republican Party. The site has garnered media attention since its...

Sanford has committed sepuku on live TV. Ensign has discovered what goes on in Vegas does not always stay in Vegas. Palin is retiring from politics. Haley Barbour is a former lobbyist who runs the poorest state in the Union. Huckabee is a 5th stringer. John Thune is running for Vice President and we have no idea whether General Petraeus is a conservative or not. It looks like the only guy who can stop the Mitt Machine is Daniels. If you don't like Daniels, then Romney is the nominee by default in 2012.