By BRIAN HOWEY
newsroom@newsandtribune.com
FRANKLIN — It’s been fun watching the national press cover our governor — Our Man Mitch. They make observations that many of us locals take for granted.
>Or if we made them, his press people would bar us at the door. For instance, in a recent Politico article entitled “Mitch the Knife,” long-time GOP operative and Crown Point native Mary Matalin noted that our governor has a “giant brain” and “steely courage.”
>This was meant as a compliment. She also said that Daniels has “unparalleled policy depth combined with razor-sharp political skills.”
When I heard this description, I kept thinking back to the day when our governor called Speaker B. Patrick Bauer a “car-bomber” — still one of my favorite moments during this governorship.
Hoosier GOP operative Anne Hathaway asks, “Do we want a president that’s pretty, or do we want one who can get the job done?” I would never call our governor “pretty.” In fact, I try to avoid talking about the physical attributes of elected officials, save for the ever so telegenic Evan Bayh and Brad Ellsworth.
The Washington Post’s George Will has already consigned our governor to the title of “President Daniels” in 2013, but Will has a mixed track record of predictions. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush calls Daniels “one of the best policy-oriented governors in the U.S.” and Politico quotes an influential GOP official as saying “He’s a budget deficit hawk, but he’s also the interesting reformer.” Most reformers are interesting. Former Gov. Sarah Palin comes to mind. I can’t name a “boring” reformer.
As for getting the job done, well, there’s just so much more for Mitch the Reformer to do in his remaining two legislative sessions. He’s been a good, steady governor. Greatness still awaits the final two years.
Ross Douthat, the New York Times columnist, wrote this past week that, “If Romney looks like central casting’s idea of a chief executive, Daniels resembles the character actor who plays the director of the Office of Management and Budget.”
If I were to cast someone to play President Daniels in a movie, it would be Ron Howard. Douthat says something that no Indiana reporter would ever write: If Daniels were to become president, “he’d be the baldest president since Dwight D. Eisenhower.”
First, our governor is not bald. And I don’t believe we’ve ever had a bald governor. I believe it best to just move on here. If anyone is an expert on bald men with giant brains, it would be Matalin.
Our governor told Douthat, “I’ve never seen a president of the United States when I look in the mirror.” Of course he doesn’t, he sees an aging Opie Taylor.
The Mitch for President phenomenon has more cred now than, say, the Mellencamp for Senate thing flitting about the Internet. Since our governor’s reelection, he and his staff always do the “aw shucks” thing, saying they are honored to be mentioned. A couple of months ago, I asked an extremely informed and reliable Daniels’ source, “There’s still nothing to this Blade for president thing, right?” The response: “Well …”
So all the talk is fueled by a legitimate power source as well as a giant brain wrapped in a fine head of hair.
Here’s my take on this: Our governor does whatever it takes to get a Republican Indiana House elected this November. Then, if that comes to pass, January through April 2011 we watch the most extraordinary long session in modern Indiana General Assembly history. It will be like Unigov joins Major Moves joins A-Plus joins Education Revolution 2.0.
If those stars align, and we see the national GOP on track for a Sarah Palin nomination, I think our governor antes up. He might use the reform session to sling himself into the national orbit. Our governor has the intellectual capacity to build the kind of campaign that the Obama-Axelrod-Plouffe team did in 2006.
I’ve said this a number of times, but Daniels has the ability to play on par with Obama. There are so many similarities to the way they govern, the way they campaign, write their own speeches, TV ads, etc. It would be an extraordinary show.
I think the better bet is that a Jeb Bush, Mitt Romney or Newt Gingrich emerges as a frontrunner and our governor is on the top rung of every veep list out there. That’s a three-month campaign as opposed to a two-year slog that would certainly violate the Cheri Daniels term limits.
Brian Howey publishes at www.howeypolitics.com
