• Daniels: It's not too late to enter '12 race

    By Catherine Chomiak

    One day before the first Republican presidential debate, the 2012 field is still developing. Today, Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels (R), a potential -- but not yet declared -- Republican presidential candidate commented on the slow start to 2012 and the opportunity for more entrants to the race.

    "I think that even people far more sage than I about our political process and presidential process are very surprised that on May the 4th, it's not already far too late, but for whatever reason it's not," Daniels told the audience gathered for his speech at the conservative American Enterprise Institute.

    "I consider that from the stand point of the public a blessing," Daniels added, "Unless you're a political professional or running a bed and breakfast in New Hampshire, it's a darn good thing that we'll have a campaign measured in months, a nomination campaign measured in months and not in years."

    Daniels' speech was focused on recent education reforms passed in his home state that expand charter schools and vouchers, aim to improve teacher quality, and limit collective bargaining to wages and benefits.

    He praised President Obama and his administration on education policy. "Most of what I've talked about so far and much of what I will is strongly supported by the Obama administration. I salute the president, Secretary Duncan," Daniels continued. "They're right about these things. They have had the courage to, in many cases, irritate some of their allies."

    On the death of Osama bin Laden, Daniels wasn't critical of the president, as some of the other potential presidential candidates have been over the past few days. "This was a very significant achievement, tremendously powerful from a symbolic standpoint," he said.

  • Daniels mum on White House run, timeline

    By Carrie Dann

    Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels did not offer any hints Sunday about when - or if  - he might decide to launch a presidential run, saying that he has "agreed to consider" a campaign for the White House but also praising the other GOP candidates already in the field.

    "Others have said over the course of the last year and a half that I ought to consider something that had never entered my mind [before]," Daniels said on NBC's Meet the Press. "I've agreed to consider it."

    The Indiana Republican praised his potential rivals, saying that "any one" of them could take up the mantle of fiscal discipline that has been a hallmark of his own political career.

    "I still think there's time," he said of the evolving GOP presidential field. "There's some really good people running. I like them all. I'm hoping that our party will simply step up to the issues of the day, and it could be any one of those folks."

    Daniels, whose fiscal expertise has prompted some Republicans to urge him strongly towards a run, also declined to give a timeline for making the decision.

    "I have no idea," Daniels responded when asked if he could wait all summer to jump into the presidential contest.

    "I am completely committed to the job I'm in now," he said, adding that "if deadlines pass, they do." (He has previously said that he will make a decision after his state's legislative session ends.)

    The Bush-era budget chief -- given the nickname "The Blade" because of his enthusiasm for slashing spending -- is a favorite of fiscal hawks who see the Indiana governor as a serious and knowledgeable foe of the federal deficit. But social conservatives abhor Daniels' statement that the nation's fiscal crisis warrants a Republican "truce" on social issues like abortion and same sex marriage.

    On Sunday, Daniels dismissed the question of whether his "truce" comments could harm his political chances in early nominating states Iowa and South Carolina. "I don't sit around calculating the political pluses and minuses of every little word I utter," he said, adding that he agrees with the policy proposals most dear to social conservatives' hearts.

    In order to solve the big problems of the federal deficit, he said, "we're going to have to get together people who disagree on other things. That's all I've said."

  • Branstad breaks down the '12 GOP field

    By Mark Murray

    The Des Moines Register gets Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad (R), while in D.C. for the National Governors Association meeting, to break down the potential GOP presidential field.

    Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, 2008 caucus winner: “I’m not even sure he’s going to run. But if he does, I think he’s obviously the favorite.”

    Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty: A “fine governor” and Iowa neighbor “going about it in the right way. He’s putting an organization together.”

    Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour: “I go way back with him. Don’t underestimate Haley.”

    Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels: “The first governor that really took the fiscal bull by the horns.”

    Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum: “There are a lot of social conservatives in Iowa.”

    Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney: “He’s not going to spend as much money or as much organization in Iowa” as he did in 2008.

    *** UPDATE *** Branstad made these remarks to PBS. Apologies to our friends there.

  • Social conservatives: Don't ignore us

    Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels (R) and the Conservative Political Action Conference have been targeted by the American Principles Project, specifically Andy Blom, the group’s executive director. Blom is upset over CPAC’s invitation of Daniels to give a keynote speech at the conference honoring Ronald Reagan, because of Daniels’ call for a “truce” on social issues.

    Daniels, who describes himself as a “pro-life conservative,” has said it’s a matter of prioritization, which I wrote about yesterday.

    Blom chatted briefly in a telephone interview with First Read yesterday afternoon, talking about his misgivings with both CPAC and Daniels.

    “We’ve gotten involved because the social conservative movement and social conservative issues are a critical part of the conservative movement,” Blom said.

    He added that the invitation of Daniels was a “sign” that the group is “out of line” and “trying to abandon core values. We cannot be a movement without morals and values.”

    Blom charged that Daniels shouldn’t be speaking about Reagan, because he’d heard that he didn’t support Reagan for president, that he wanted it to be Richard Lugar (R-IN) instead.

    When it was pointed out to him that Daniels worked for Reagan, Blom said he didn’t know that, but that he didn’t feel Daniels was recognizing Reagan’s three-legged stool of conservatism -- fiscal, national security, and social.

    (For the record, Daniels eventually became Reagan’s chief political adviser in the White House.)

    “The core issue here is there is not a truce on social issues,” Blom said. “The other side does not have a truce. We cannot take this position.”

    Responding to Daniels’ point that the economy and long-term debt and deficits should be the top priority, Blom said, “It is certainly true that the economy is a very serious consideration, but that does not allow us to abandon social issues.

    “When one side adopts a truce, and the other side doesn’t, that’s called surrender.”

    He said he doesn’t yet have a preferred 2012 Republican presidential candidate, but stressed that social issues are key in GOP primaries in Iowa and South Carolina, and that no Republican in the modern era has won the nomination without winning two of those three.

    “We have an abundance of candidates who stand not just for very intelligent economic positions,” he said, “but also the complete range of core conservative values. No candidate is going to win the nomination without the social values. … The candidate is going to have to meet the approval of social conservatives.”

  • Daniels on 2012 run: Don't 'hold your breath'

    Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels (R) says he's testing the waters for 2012, but he's clearly not convinced yet it would be the right move.

    He has expressed misgivings about exposing his family to the scrutiny of a White House bid. He has already drawn the ire of some social conservatives for calling for a "truce" on social issues. Daniels, a "pro-life conservative," explains that it's about prioritization.

    And today, there was this in the Northwest Indiana Times, based on an interview with a Chicago radio station:

    "Addressing speculation he may be seeking a run at the White House himself, Daniels said, 'I wouldn't hold your breath for that.'

    "'We're thinking about it,' he said. 'A lot of people have asked me to think about it, so we will.'"

    Daniels is slated to address the Conservative Political Action Conference Feb. 10 here, but at least one conservative group is vexed by CPAC's decision to invite him to speak.

    The American Principles Project -- which protested CPAC's invitation of conservative-leaning gay-rights group GOProud -- wrote the following about Daniels:

    “Unfortunately, while Governor Daniels is slated to speak at CPAC’s ‘Reagan Dinner,’ he has failed to understand how Ronald Reagan fused the three critical legs of the conservative movement into one coherent governing philosophy. Discarding one makes the whole obsolete.

    “Governor Daniels’ selection is an affront to the millions of conservatives who believe that social issues such as abortion and traditional marriage are non-negotiable.

    “The Beltway wisdom among Republican insiders boils down to a simple mantra: Social issues are a thing of the past. But this theory falls apart outside of the Washington bubble. The Republican sweep in the House was dominated by pro-life, pro-family candidates, and polling shows large majorities want to see action on these issues."

    This all creates a difficult landscape for Daniels to navigate. It may be that his best path to the nomination is for the former Bush budget director to make it about the numbers, about the economy, and how to reduce fiscal deficits and debt. He's comfortable talking on that ground, and it distinguishes him from much of the rest of the 2012 GOP field.

    But making fiscal issues the top issue in GOP primaries in states like Iowa and South Carolina, where social issues usually dominate, could prove very difficult if he decides to run, especially, if unemployment trends continue downward, and if President Obama takes up the fiscal mantle in 2011 and 2012, working with Republicans to try and implement his fiscal commission's recommendations.