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Mitch Daniels Shows the Party Committees How it’s Done

By: Leon H. Wolf (Diary)  |  February 22nd, 2010 at 12:30 PM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

Due to his success at managing the government of Indiana into a budget surplus in the middle of a serious economic recession, Mitch Daniels is far and away the most popular Republican in Indiana. His endorsement in the upcoming Senate primary has been the most sought-after endorsement of any of the candidates running, and many assumed that Daniels would endorse Coats, who is emerging as something of the establishment candidate. Yesterday, however, Daniels quashed all speculation concerning who he would endorse with an unequivocal statement:

Popular Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels has no plans to endorse in the GOP primary battle for his state’s open Senate seat, he told POLITICO Sunday.

“I have never involved myself in primaries, and I won’t in this one,” Daniels said when asked if he planned to endorse the frontrunner, former Sen. Dan Coats. “There’s some terrific, admirable people running, Dan, of course, one of them.”

**SNIP***

Daniels, who is in Washington for the National Governors Association winter meeting, insisted that he was not concerned about a contested race for the GOP nomination – but warned the candidates involved to not venture outside the bounds.

“A primary, provided its run in a positive way, is a good thing and not a bad thing,” he said. “A lot of it depends on people conducting themselves in an affirmative way.”

Daniels’ endorsement of any candidate in the race would have served as the de facto endorsement of the state party, and would have carried far more weight than the endorsement of the national party or the NRSC. However, while Daniels went on to call Coats the front-runner, Daniels realized that evenly-contested primaries decided by the voters – especially when there is no incumbent in the race – are the most valuable tool for ensuring that the strongest candidate makes it to the general election. When a force as powerful as Daniels puts a thumb on the scale – or when the NRSC lends its resources to a favored candidate – it can easily lead to an inferior candidate surviving the primary through artificial advantages. Hopefully, given the debacle currently unfolding around NRSC-favored candidates like Crist and Fiorina at the present time, this is a lesson the party committees will take to heart, especially in a year when the Republican electoral base is plugged in and ready to make their own informed choices about the direction of the country.

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  • RedBeard

    …by not endorsing Coats.

  • AngryMatt

    He’s serious, he’s an effective governor, he’s a principled conservative and he’s down to earth. I think by mid-2011 the American populace will be more than just yearning for serious leaders, they’ll be incensed at anyone who is not and willing to embrace this second coming of Calvin Coolidge.

    Mitch Daniels absolutely must run for the presidency, if only just to force everyone else in the debate to be substantive and to bring a sense of reality to political conversations.

  • itrytobenice

    I like his analysis. Primaries are the time for voters to decide who represents their interest in their party. For the party, or other popular leaders, to intervene is to tilt the scales.

    Rubio is going to beat Crist without Jeb’s help. If anyone is better than Coats, now is a great time to prove it.

  • http://www.libertylives.org madnorskie

    I’ve heard rumors that Christ may run as an Independent if bested by Rubio in the primary, contributing to Erick’s assessment that it is the “moderate” Republicans who don’t support the party if they don’t get their way. If this is true, it is just another example of the importance of the national and state parties staying out of primaries and ending their absurd support of the “more palatable” (less principled) candidate. Mitch Daniels should be applauded for serving as an example to the rest of the Party’s leadership.

    • http://travismonitor.blogspot.com Freedoms Truth

      “I?ve heard rumors that Christ may run as an Independent”
      I doubt that is true, but if Crist wants to end his career, he is free to do so.
      (No, he’s not the Messiah.)

      Rubio will win the primary and the general election.

      Wise statement by Mitch Daniels. Maybe NSRC can take the hint and let these processes play themselves out.

    • Illinicon

      so if Crist wants to do the 3rd party thing he would have to get out of the race before the primary.

      • bs

        That’s fascinating. Do you happen to have a link to information on that?

  • RINKER

    ENOUGH with the Daniels infatuation. He ramped up spending under Bush, and as governor, the Republican legislature had to put a stop to his plan to hike income taxes:

    “Only days after he assumed office, the governor caught everyone by surprise when he, whom President Bush had called ‘the blade’ for his budget carving as former White House budget director, proposed a one-year income tax increase while acknowledging that he would be able to balance the budget over two years without a tax increase. While conservatives in the House rejected the option of tax increases, Senate President Robert Garton put yet another tax hike option on the table: raising cigarette taxes.”

    • RINKER

      http://www.allbusiness.com/public-administration/4112217-1.html

  • RINKER

    From FortWaynePolitics.com… (THIS YEAR)

    INDIANAPOLIS ? Gov. Mitch Daniels wants to suspend millions of dollars in tax credits given every year to individuals, non-profits and Hoosier companies as part of his proposed administrative cost-savings measure. This comes despite his urging lawmakers in his State of the State speech not to ?make this recession worse by adding one cent to the tax burden of our fellow citizens.?

    The tax credits that would be affected include the Neighborhood Assistance Credit, Enterprise Zone Investment Cost and Loan Interest Credits, the Community Revitalization Enhancement District Credit and several business credits for offering health benefits and a wellness program to employees.
    [...]
    According to the fiscal impact statement on the bill, the suspension of the various tax credits could save more than $8 million per year.

    Ruhl said Daniels does not consider it a tax increase. He noted that one taxpayer or another can always see his liability go up or down in any given year due to changes.

    ?It?s a balancing act,? he said, noting that something that affects one-tenth of 1 percent of the people is not a tax increase.

  • toughintn

    “Mitch Daniels is far and away the most popular Republican in Indiana.”

    He cannot beat Mike Pence for popularity.

    And because I still don’t believe most people realize it, I’ll mention this again:

    Mitch Daniels stuck his neck out and endorsed John McCain BEFORE McCain even declared his presidential candidacy in the last race. An across-the-board ideological conservative would NOT have worked to drive true conservatives out of the presidential primary by pushing a RINO like McCain to run, and then elevating his status with such an early endorsement.