Certainly a strong possibility:
Republican Mitch Daniels has repeatedly insisted that his 2008 run for a second term as Indiana’s governor was his last election and that he’s not interested in the “savagery” of a national campaign.
But like it or not, Daniels’ name is being dropped in conservative GOP circles as someone to watch in 2012. Many say Daniels is just what the battered GOP needs, a blend of conservative values, cool demeanor and fiscal discipline.
“Mitch has been steady to the cause, he’s stayed principled,” said Michael Steele, chairman of the Republican National Committee. “The nation is going to recognize him.”
Some political observers say Daniels is as good a bet as any for a national party reeling from Democrats’ solid victory last year…
…The 60-year-old millionaire governor is equally at home in Washington and Indiana after serving as President George W. Bush’s budget director and an adviser to President Ronald Reagan. He earned a reputation in Washington as the “blade” for his efforts to promote fiscal responsibility in Congress and carried that to Indiana, where he took over a state with a $800 million deficit and worked with lawmakers to pass a balanced budget in his first year. The state’s fiscal year ended June 30 with a $1.3 billion surplus.
Certainly he’s vastly better at this whole governing thing than our current President. As an aside, I wonder when the MSM will stop describing us GOPers as “reeling”? I don’t feel like I’m reeling. Does anyone else out there? I’m actually licking my chops over our prospects for 2009 and 2010, right now. Harry Reid trails two second-rank politicians out here in Nevada – and my bet is that he’s going to lose to a third-ranked one (wink, wink/nudge, nudge…by the way, anyone have any idea how to raise $25 million when you’re not the Senate Majority Leader? Heck – I guess it’ll just have to be done on less than that…).
The only problem I see with 2012 is that there might be as many as a dozen GOPers to enter the lists – unless a miracle happens, Obama’s going to be the most vulnerable incumbent President since Carter.
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