In Defense of a Boring Republican Candidate

[mardi gras skin]

http://spectator.org/archives/2011/04/28/in-defense-of-boring-men


Right now, polls show many conservative voters, at least temporarily, falling for the bad boy in the form of billionaire celebrity Donald Trump. A main reason cited for this is the "bland" or "boring" slate of potential GOP candidates...

...Daniels's one "bad boy" characteristic is that he rides a Harley, but just as you'd never confuse Richie Cunningham for "The Fonz" even if Richie were wearing a leather jacket, you won't mistake Daniels on a Harley as a "bad boy" either. He can make a Harley look like a scooter. But when he is talking about policy, he is an unmistakably serious man.

[twa]

I like boring and efficient
certainly hope Daniels runs

[Barney B]

Mitch Daniels is a teetotaler in a roomful of tosspots, and the kind of Republican a moderate swing voter could still get behind.

Naturally, he'll have to establish some bona fides with the social conservatives if he's going to have a prayer of sniffing the nomination. He's already started:

Mitch Daniels To Sign Bill Defunding Planned Parenthood Into Law

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/29/mitch-daniels-planned-parenthood_n_855731.html


INDIANAPOLIS -- Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels plans to sign a bill that will restrict abortions and make Indiana the first state to cut off all government funding for Planned Parenthood.

The move is likely to beef up his credentials among social conservatives as he considers a 2012 presidential run.

Daniels said Friday that he's supported the abortion restrictions from the outset and the provision added to defund Planned Parenthood didn't change his mind. Daniels says women's health, family planning and other services will remain available.

The move puts at risk $4 million a year in federal family planning grants likely to be cut off because of the bill. The legislation also would ban would abortions after the 20th week of pregnancy unless there's a substantial threat to the woman's life or health.

[mardi gras skin]

Mitch Daniels is a teetotaler in a roomful of tosspots, and the kind of Republican a moderate swing voter could still get behind.

Naturally, he'll have to establish some bona fides with the social conservatives if he's going to have a prayer of sniffing the nomination. He's already started:

Mitch Daniels To Sign Bill Defunding Planned Parenthood Into Law

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/29/mitch-daniels-planned-parenthood_n_855731.html

Yeah, there's no way he could veto that bill or he'd catch hell during the presidential nomination. He clearly wants to stay way away from social issues because he sees the more pressing need on the economic front. Give him a Republican controlled House and a Democrat controlled senate and he wouldn't be put in that situation.

He seems like the kind of guy that wouldn't leave leave many problems for the next president to deal with.

[Barney B]

Yeah, there's no way he could veto that bill or he'd catch hell during the presidential nomination.

For sure. But it's interesting that Indiana is about to become the only state to remove funding for Planned Parenthood, just in time to help Daniels impress the social conservative set who weigh so heavily on the primaries.

Is this a coincidence? Or are the Indiana state legislators who introduced this bill shoveling coal for Daniels' presidential run? If so, it's a shrewd move on their part.



He clearly wants to stay way away from social issues because he sees the more pressing need on the economic front. Give him a Republican controlled House and a Democrat controlled senate and he wouldn't be put in that situation.

You're right, and we could do a lot worse than to see this scenario play out. Just do us a favor, and make sure he doesn't pick a running mate from the booby hatch, OK?


He seems like the kind of guy that wouldn't leave leave many problems for the next president to deal with.

Can we hold you to that? Believe it or not, I thought the same would be true for W. ;)

[mardi gras skin]

http://www.npr.org/2011/05/03/135932643/a-reluctant-mitch-daniels-ponders-his-next-move


More than any other potential Republican candidate, Daniels has focused on the debt and the deficit. He calls it the new red menace — a tidal wave of red ink. But he's also challenged Republican orthodoxy by saying Republicans have to be ready to compromise, and that everything should be on the table, including taxes.

"If you believe as I do that this is a republic-threatening issue, that we cannot remain either prosperous or influential in the world if we go broke, and that the arithmetic — forget philosophy for a minute — if the arithmetic says that's where we're headed," he says, "then I think that leads any patriotic citizen to the conclusion that you will do what it takes."