Daniels Claims Broad Support For Presidential Run
Politico reports:
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana strong>Gov. Mitch Daniels< boasts that he would turn heads with his fundraising firepower and roster of big-name GOP supporters if he jumps into the strong>2012 presidential race<.
“If I were to decide to do this, we would have an unbelievable letterhead, ” Daniels predicted in a POLITICO interview Wednesday, lighting up as the hour-long conversation turned to why he could win.
“I don’t know if we’d raise the most, but for whatever reason, there are an awful lot of people standing by who I think know how to do this a lot better than I do,” he said, noting that he’s being strong>pushed to run< by an array of business types and political figures.
Daniels suggested three things could keep him from plunging in: his wife’s concerns, the calculation that his party or the country aren’t ready for his tough-love message or the emergence of another capable candidate.
People close to the governor say his wife, Cheri, is very cool to a run. It “would be safe to say” she is uneasy with a campaign, he said.
Just as concerned about the possibility are some high-profile social conservatives in the GOP who were upset with his call last year for a truce on cultural battles to focus on economic matters. They won’t be happy to learn that Daniels told POLITICO he stands by that message and won’t back down from it when he addresses the Conservative Political Action Conference on Friday.
But the Hoosier said he has been heartened by New Jersey strong>Gov. Chris Christie’s< blunt approach to his state’s fiscal difficulties and argued that such a take-your-medicine brand of governing shows that voters are further ahead of the political class in the difficult decisions they’ll swallow.
