All signs point to a Daniels bid for president

[Prometheus]

I am completely serious when I say he does not have nice enough hair to be president.

It'd be funny if it weren't so true.

Daniels is an insider, he played a heavy hand in meddling with many state rep/senate seats last time around. He comes down on the same side as those who pushed Coats.

He's going to hold the national GOP water.

We need someone who isn't going to hold the line, we need someone to push back the tide.

Daniels is conservative now because he is Governor of Indiana. Not because he really is.

 

[dukeboy_318]

On the national scene, Mitch Daniels would actually be a fresh face.

The problem with most of the members of the GOP is that while they may talk like fiscal conservatives today, most of them were big spenders just a few years ago. Mitch is one of the few who has actually tackled a budget and done a reasonable job of taming it.

Again, not saying he is perfect, not saying he is my man, but on the national scene I don't see any of the big name GOP leaders as good choices. Daniels may become a leader by simple default.

Well I just don't know if I could vote for mitch even though I am conservative and planning on voting any incumbent out that I don't feel could do the job. Now regarding mitch, I have first hand experience working for the state, while budget cuts suck, they were needed however, they've gone to far , my department has been running at bare minimum staff now for 3 years and is under a hiring freeze going into the 3rd yr while another department is 35 percent overstaffed. We can't take vacation time cause it'd leav just one person on any given shift to cover a huge mission, we don't have enough people to cpver medical or family emergencies and we are being made to perform more duties then we did 4 yrs ago when we had more people, we haven't had a pay raise in 4 yrs and the state has cut back how much they pay to our health benefits big time, my individual coverage went from 43 dollars a month last year to 123 dollars every 2 weeks plus an annual enrollment fee of 450 bucks and I've never had a single claim. We also have human resources and payroll clerks with no more then a highschool diploma making 50 grand a year or more having only worked for the state less then 3 yrs

On top of that, my local school system has just 638.42 dollars to last them till may, at least according to the meeting last week. They have laid off teachers and cut afterschool programs before the budget cuts happend and yet that didn't seem to help.

Now im a huge sports fan and die hard colts fan as well. But with that said, I don't think they should have spent 33 million of the taxpayers money to keep a crappy basketball team. Nor should the feds give 1/2 a million dollars to MIT to study how a human body decomposes or to some of the other pet projects they waste money on.

So the question that I have is do we really want mitch as president, at this point I just don't know, what I do know is that the one we have now needs to go

 

[beararms1776]

Right now, this country needs a good businessman with actual experience. Mitch fits the bill.

 

[Woodsman]

I just hope it doesn't turn out like the last election where there were what, 8 guys running at the same time? I'll be honest and say I was all in for Thompson, he was the only guy who had some really decent ideas on down on paper when he started. The old guy analogy stuck (just like that played on Reagan) and couldn't get passed it with Huck the preacher.

Based on what I know now, if I was going to pick a dream ticket it would probably be Daniels/Perry. The Texans seem to like Gov. Perry and besides, he carries! That would seem to be a no BS team if I had to call it now.

 

[spearheadersarge]

He's reluctant that's for sure. I feel his record here in Indiana is more than enough qualification for the rest of the nation to get behind him. He's not perfect and there will be the inevitable "He's a Busher!" tagline but given the alternatives, I feel he's the only chance we got. The GOP throes will include all the desperates who think they can slide in due to the Dem backlash but I can't see any of them beating Mitch. Newt, Sarah, Huckabee, Pawlenty, Jindal, heck even Perry might jump in, who knows. I say Danielsbeats them all. Let's hope so. Just my 2 cents.

 

[lashicoN]

He seems soft-spoken. We need someone to put Obama in his place, come election debate time.

Let's be totally honest here, who wouldn't thoroughly enjoy our Nordic debating Obama in front of the entire country about every issue we raise?

 

[Woodsman]

Another good guy who has some conservative street cred is Jim DeMint from South Carolina. Some of these people like Newt and Pawlenty seem to much like that Charlie Crist fella.

Jindal is going to be a good one in a few years after he gets more exposure I think.

 

[Woodsman]

....
Let's be totally honest here, who wouldn't thoroughly enjoy our Nordic debating Obama in front of the entire country about every issue we raise?

Lincoln-Douglas style with no teleprompters. Ohhh, that would be a think of beauty.

 

[theweakerbrother]

Ha! You'd be hard pressed to find a politician with enough backbone to debate without notes, teleprompters, speeches written by a panel of aides and consults nor an earwig feeding them info.

 

[lashicoN]

I can here Obama now "Listen...listen...listen...OK...listen now...listen". Then he would sit with his hands folded on his podium while the crowd of people go insane.

Nordic, you up for debates without teleprompters?

 

[Woodsman]

Ha! You'd be hard pressed to find a politician with enough backbone to debate without notes, teleprompters, speeches written by a panel of aides and consults nor an earwig feeding them info.

Perhaps so, but I'd wager it would tell you a whole lot about the two debaters in a short hurry. Backbone is something DC is completely short of right now...

 

[NordicHeathenVinlander]

I can here Obama now "Listen...listen...listen...OK...listen now...listen". Then he would sit with his hands folded on his podium while the crowd of people go insane.

Nordic, you up for debates without teleprompters?

LOL I do all the time


All that I would ask is this..... No hand picked crowds.... Everyone allowed.

Lincoln-Douglas style with no teleprompters. Ohhh, that would be a think of beauty.

THAT WAS AN IMPRESSIVE Debate, reading the transcript, and it gives alot of insight about the nature of the era and what the people cared about.

 

[Duncan]

He is not Constitutionalist .. He is now a REPUBLICAN Candidate for the office of President ... Let us not forget that Indiana is 1 Billion . that is B Bravo Billion dollars in debt / arrearage for money accepted from the Federal Gov. for unemployment compensation .. call your state rep... that's my source for this factoid ....

He is a good old boy Republican that plays the game and is trying to look like a fiscal Libertarian ... don't forget the health care welfare for the indigent he signed here in Indiana

FSSA - HIP: HIP

yeah he's HIP he rides a Hog too...

 

[melensdad]

Duncan, I agree with you. However, given the VIABLE CHOICES, he may be the most fiscally conservative politician who can ACTUALLY get elected.

If I had my dream candidate it would be Thomas Paine or any member of the Libertarian Party. But the REALITY is that no Libertarian is going to make it to the center ring in this competition.

Idealism will not get us the best candidate. Pragmatism will get us the best of the viable offerings. No clue if Mitch is the right guy, personally I'd prefer Ron Paul by a wide margin, we see how far we have gotten with him in the past.

 

[Expat]

If Governor Perry got in, I don't see him wanting second fiddle, Maybe Jindal or Pawlenty.. I think they both want it bad. Jindal made a good impression during the oil spill. He had that one speech to the Nation that kind of flopped a few years ago though. He didn't come across as very dynamic.

 

[Rob377]

Thomas Paine wouldn't be so popular today:

He became notorious because of The Age of Reason (1793–94), his book advocating deism, promoting reason and freethinking, and arguing against institutionalized religion and Christian doctrines.[3] He also wrote the pamphlet Agrarian Justice (1795), discussing the origins of property, and introduced the concept of a guaranteed minimum income.

ARguing against Christianity and for minimum incomes wouldn't exactly make him a rockstar in these parts.

Then there's that whole thing about being a raging alcoholic.

Fascinating guy, read a really great biography on him some time ago. Not presidential material though.

 

[irishfan]

Five years ago I would not have voted for Mitch Daniels for anything! After the last two years I would vote Mickey Mouse emperor to get the economy going again.

In all reality, Mitch would probably be a good choice and a lot better than some I have seen the GOP marching around here lately. If Romney and Palin are all that there is to offer from the GOP then it is a sad day for America.

 

[Expat]

Five years ago I would not have voted for Mitch Daniels for anything! After the last two years I would vote Mickey Mouse emperor to get the economy going again.

In all reality, Mitch would probably be a good choice and a lot better than some I have seen the GOP marching around here lately. If Romney and Palin are all that there is to offer from the GOP then it is a sad day for America.

I think there is still a certain level of butthurt up here in the North with the Governor. We did not want the toll road sold. I have only used it once since the sale. The whole DST thing was very unpopular up here as well.

 

[snapping turtle]

I can see Mitch Daniels selling off/leasing the Washington monument, Lincoln memorial, and smithsonian museum to a foreign country so they can charge money to attend these public areas. Placing that money into saving instead of paying back china and getting a meer 2% on that money. Then using some of that money to purchase the private homes and farms of citizens to put in a toll road to a place nobody really minds driving and extra 30 miles to reach.

Don't blast me for this as I should no better than to put my opinion up on the political part of this board. Breaking one of my rules to do this but selling and leasing off public places into the hands of foreign compnies never set well with me.

 

[irishfan]

I think there is still a certain level of butthurt up here in the North with the Governor. We did not want the toll road sold. I have only used it once since the sale. The whole DST thing was very unpopular up here as well.

You know with Mitch that EVERYTHING is for sale if you will pay a price. I can almost see him the day after inauguration running an auction on the White House lawn for naming rights to the Lincoln Memorial.