Daniels Stays Mum About 2012 Plans
Governor Mitch Daniels spoke at AEI to discuss the successful passage of several education reforms bills in Indiana. When he spoke, even Daniels probably knew that the reason the room was packed to standing room only was because of the question on everyone’s mind: “Will he run for president?” To which the answer remains: We don’t know yet, but probably not.
AEI President Arthur Brooks’ introduction of Daniels played into this, describing him as someone who has “put his politics where his mouth is for the benefit of Indiana, and in the future perhaps for the benefit of our nation as well.”
Daniels opened with a very self-depreciating remark: “You are all here under false pretenses. I just came for a meal.” As Daniels told it, he was invited to Washington D.C. for a dinner later in the day (he is being presented an award at an Arab-American Institute dinner) so he needed a place for lunch:
"As Calvin Coolidge said, a man’s got to eat somewhere, so I came to AEI. We said ‘yes’, and 24 hours ago some pajama-clad blogger turned it into a major policy address."
Daniels even tried to win over the crowd with a joke: “I saw all the flags at half-staff, and then it hit me, Hubert Schlafly, the inventor of the teleprompter died last week and I know President Obama must be grief stricken.”
Teleprompter jokes are usually the domain of Republican political leaders who want to throw their hat into the 2012 arena. The last major address at AEI from a Republican whose name had been thrown around as a potential 2012 candidate was Chris Christie, whose speech about his reform agenda for New Jersey was a broader critique on the Obama administration and the direction of the country.
In contrast, Daniels’ own speech was much more focused on the policy nuances of the education reform bills that had recently passed the Indiana legislature and were making their way to his desk to sign. The policy presentation was impressive (and will be the subject of a future FrumForum post) but it wasn’t an address that discussed national concerns the way that Christie’s did, and the speech was not a 2012 stump speech.
After being asked about his education agenda for the first few questions, a reporter from NPR managed to turn the discussion to 2012, asking “Could you explain why it’s not too late for someone to get in [the 2012 race] at this point, for someone who is not a celebrity or a billionaire?”
Daniels’ first response? “A man said: when I consider my opportunities I marvel at my self-restraint.” Not the same as saying “No I’m not running for president” but hardly an enthusiastic endorsement.
Daniels said that it was a “blessing” that it was still not late in the GOP presidential primary calendar.
He conceded that some people perhaps don’t benefit from a late start to the election, people such as "political professional or [someone] running a bed and breakfast in New Hampshire. It's a darn good thing we'll have a nomination campaign measured in months and not in years."
Daniels can be commended for his sense of humor, but his answer did suggest that he remains largely coy about running for president. He knows every wonk in D.C. wants him to do it because he is the most policy-smart candidate the GOP has. He’s also certainly smart enough to know he faces a significant uphill challenge in a conservative primary.
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