GOP establishment darling Mitch Daniels wants to avoid wedge issues
Thomas Lifson
Conservatives suspicious of the GOP establishment's tendency to foist wishy-washy candidates on the party, and wary of Mitch Daniels as another John McCain, have had their doubts vindicated.
The GOP establishment is begging Mitch Daniels to run for president, if you believe Politico's Mike Allen: "GOP elite see Mitch Daniels as 2012 savior." Meanwhile, social conservatives have been down on him ever since the Indiana governor called for a "truce" on social issues.
Now comes video of Daniels speaking to the "centrist" GOP Ripon Society (founded at Harvard) in which Daniels announces that the GOP should avoid "wedge issues."
The very insightful and level-headed Jennifer Rubin sums up the implication of this astonishing statement:
When Daniels says the GOP should avoid "wedge" issues, that means the entire debate must conform to what the Democrats will tolerate: "The whole concept of a wedge issue should be foreign to us if we really want to come back." That is not what the party's base wants to hear. They want to set the agenda, not capitulate before beginning the bargaining. More than any single issue, it is this attitude that will be an anathema to the Republican primary electorate. Daniels is also, not to be too indelicate, boring.
Daniels is in many ways the anti-Newt, cautious where Newt is daring. Yet his potential candidacy is moving along the same vector as Newt's -- alienating the party's base, and endearing himself to the opposition.
and yet Daniels signed a defunding of planned parent-hood into law. It's amazing how the tea party would rather have someone bombastic with no chance of winning over someone who actually has a record of successfully implementing policy and could actually win.
It's amazing how the tea party would rather have someone bombastic with no chance of winning over someone who actually has a record of successfully implementing policy and could actually win.
I completely agree. Daniels has implemented more fundamental reform as governor than anyone else in office today.
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 express its views, he added.
Daniels is a fiscal hawk who has won national acclaim for the bang-up job he has done steering the Indiana economy out of the mire of the recession compounded by two previous terms of Democrat irresponsibility. The governor gave a controversial speech at the CPAC convention asking Republicans to "call a truce" on social issues while dealing with America's faltering economy.
Word to Mitch: the stifling effect of labor unions on the economy is not a social issue.
Daniels' unwillingness to stand on principle on issues important to social conservatives suggested that there might be a weak spot in the former Reagan Budget Director's resume. Daniels earned the sobriquet "Mitch the Knife" for his willingness to stand on economic principle while helping trim the fat out of the federal budget.
Apparently, Daniels now wants to be known as "Mitch the Nice." That won't work for me or any of the conservatives that I know. Now is the time to draw the proverbial line in the sand and act on the mandate provided conservatives in the 2010 mid-term elections. Reigning in union greed must be a top priority.
I'm sure teachers, federal employees, Indiana Democrats and associated union ilk are searching the thrift stores for "My Man Mitch" buttons that they would previously have spat upon.
Sorry Mitch, but it's only taken two weeks in the national public eye to prove that you ain't no Chris Christie or Scott Walker.
Daniels is a fiscal hawk who has won national acclaim for the bang-up job he has done steering the Indiana economy out of the mire of the recession compounded by two previous terms of Democrat irresponsibility.
