Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda - Mitch Daniels "I could have beaten Obama"

Politico: Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels has taken himself out of the running for president, but he says he believes he could have defeated President Barack Obama for a second term.

“Yes, I think so,” Daniels said when asked whether he could have beaten Obama on ABC’s “This Week.” “I mean no one can know.”

Daniels said that his decision to not run was based on his family’s desire for privacy and security, which he said would inevitably have been lost in a campaign for the Republican presidential nomination.

“We've got young women, three of them that have been married not too long,” Daniels said. “They're looking forward to building lives, starting families and this was just a - a disruption that - that they were very, very leery of. And who wouldn't understand that?”

Is it just me or does this sound like cheap talk? Honestly, I could not imagine Mitch Daniels beating Obama in 2012. As I have said time and time again on this blog, Obama and the left are going to tear into the GOP nominee with every dirty trick in the book. Does anyone really believe that wimpy Mitch Daniels would have been able to overcome that?

Via: Memeorandum
Via: Politico

RIP: Indiana's Right-to-Work bill dies

We can pretty much lay this right at the feet of Mitch The Wuss Daniels. Did yo hear that "POOF" sound?  That was Daniels presidential aspirations going up in smoke.


The Indy Channel: INDIANAPOLIS -- Republican leaders at the Statehouse conceded Wednesday, killing so-called right-to-work legislation that prompted House Democrats to leave the state in protest.

Republican House Speaker Brian Bosma confirmed that the legislation would not come back this session, and that he would not allow right-to-work language to be amended into another bill in the House, 6News' Norman Cox reported.

Senate Leader David Long made the same commitment for the Senate. [MORE]

Via: Lucianne

Via: The Indy Channel

What a wuss! Mitch Daniels: Indiana Republicans should drop right to work bill

National Review: Gov. Mitch Daniels signaled this afternoon that Republicans should to drop the right-to-work bill that has brought the Indiana House to a standstill for two days and imperiled other measures.

Daniels told reporters this afternoon that he expects House Democrats will return to work if the bill dies. It would be unfortunate if other bills are caught up in the turmoil, he said.

He will not send out state police to corral the Democrats, the Republican governor said. The Democrat minority has right to express its views, he added.

The governor clung to his view that this is not the year to tackle right to work.

If Mitch Daniels was seriously considering running for president next year, he can now pretty much forget about it.  Weak Republicans are so 2008.

Jeff G at Protein Wisdom states the obvious ramifications from Daniels weakness.

Protein Wisdom:  In taking this positionn, Daniels puts pressure on Gov Walker to “compromise” with public union employees in Wisconsin, and problematizes the conservative position on public sector unions and collective bargaining. He further puts pressure on any other Republican governors who may have been poised to push similar reform bills — which the vast majority of people support (and which independents and conservatives overwhelmingly support). He is the “reasonable” “conservative” foil the mainstream press, union leadership, and Obama will use to push back against the surging classical liberal momentum.

Thanks Mitch, for nothing!


Click over to National Review to read Daniels Q and A responses (if you can stomach it).


Via: Memeorandum
Via: National Review
Via: Protein Wisdom

Indiana Dems go AWOL too

The sore loser syndrome is spreading to Indiana.

Indianapolis Star: Seats on one side of the Indiana House were nearly empty today as House Democrats departed the the state rather than vote on anti-union legislation.

A source tells the Indianapolis Star that Democrats are headed to Illinois, though it was possible some also might go to Kentucky. They need to go to a state with a Democratic governor to avoid being taken into police custody and returned to Indiana.

The House was came into session twice this morning, with only three of the 40 Democrats present. Those were needed to make a motion, and a seconding motion, for any procedural steps Democrats would want to take to ensure Republicans don’t do anything official without quorum.

With only 58 legislators present, there was no quorum present to do business. The House needs 67 of its members to be present.
Today’s fight was triggered by Republicans pushing a bill that would bar unions and companies from negotiating a contract that requires non-union members to kick-in fees for representation. It’s become the latest in what is becoming a national fight over Republican attempts to eliminate or limit collective bargaining.

Is this the new democracy? When you lose an election you just walk out when the victors propose something you don't like.  It seems Democrats are more than willing to trash their brand further for the sake of the unions.


I also want to point out something from the article about Mitch Daniels.

Gov. Mitch Daniels had warned his party late last year against pursuing so-called “right to work” legislation. While he agreed with it philosophically, he said it was a big issue that needed a state-wide debate and noted no Republican had run on this in the November election.

But now that his party is pursuing it, Daniels has not spoken against it. He has so far issued no statement, has held no news conference and has not been interviewed by any Indiana reporters in the Statehouse. Daniels did do a radio interview Monday with National Public Radio in which he discussed the labor fight which has caused a government stalemate in Wisconsin — where Senate Democrats have fled to Illinois to prevent a vote on a bill that limits collective bargaining --a now, apparently, his state.

That sounds rather timid to me. Could someone please tell me why some people find Mitch Daniels ideal for 2012?

Via: Memeorandum

Via: Indianapolis Star